The Tribe
by Ehren Hatten
Summary: Suzee's acting weird. She makes the crew stop off at a planet for supplies. What ensues is full of mayhem and Suzee being very cheerful. COMPLETE!
1. Suzee's Strange

A/N: I'm givin' ya'll a chance to help me with ideas to play with the intrepid crew of the Christa! The deal is... my friend Celia, who is the only one I can talk to over the phone, never watched the show, so I can get anything from her....  
  
I just watched The Tribe today. It was rather interesting.....  
  
Oooh! Oooh! If you want to read something funny... read Daydreamer's Frodo's "Encounter" with Sauron. That's %^$&^*& hilarious! Also, read the two stories that have rabid fangirl's invading the Fellowship. Meanwhile... I'm going to watch a very interesting episode of South Park where they have to take "Lord of the Rings" back to the video store.  
  
Again... music takes it's toll on my brain. I was just listening to this Mannhiem Steamroller Christmas album that my mom gave me one year and I was listening to Hark The Harold Angels. Needless to say, I'm thinking of doing a Christmas story. May not happen though.  
  
  
  
Space Cases  
"The Tribe"  
  
  
  
Chapter One  
  
  
  
  
"We need resources...." said Suzee. She was talking to Harlan as they walked down the corridors together toward Miss Davenport's Classroom of Hell. "We're running short on a few supplies."  
  
"I'm not the one you need to be hassling, Commander Goddard is the senior officer!" Harlan growled. He had been listening to her gripe since breakfast and it was time for class.  
  
"I just came from talking to Commander Goddard.... He told me to go to you..." Suzee said in an exasperated tone.  
  
"Great... remind me to thank him later for that..." Harlan growled. He sighed. "Alright... after class, I'll ask Radu if he has spotted any planets in the area.... okay?"  
  
Suzee took a moment to think. Then, she nodded curtly. She was really having some fun antagonizing Harlan like this. She was getting him back for the time he had put a sleeping Hunter in her bunk. She had not seen him and sat on him. Needless to say, she had scratch marks on her thighs from the selcar.  
  
In the infirmary, THELMA was tweaking Freya's implant. Commander Goddard was keeping watch. "How is it coming, THELMA...."  
  
"The implant is making it difficult for me to help...." THELMA said in her usually vacant voice.  
  
Freya played with a small puzzle that Rosie had lent her. Commander Goddard watched as she put it together. When she was finished, she held it up to Goddard and gave a cheerful smile. "Mr. Goddard... I did it!"  
  
Goddard smiled. He couldn't help himself. She sounded a bit like a child at the moment. "Yes... I see..." he said.  
  
She took it apart again. Then, she started putting it back together again. Suddenly, an electrical surge hit her and she fell off of the bed. Goddard bent down to help her up. Bova hadn't been kidding, she was heavier than she looked. He managed to get her back on the bed as she gave a sudden twitch.  
  
"Any more of those and there won't be enough data left for her to HAVE a personality...." Goddard grunted.  
  
"She is an organic being...." THELMA corrected. "Her brain will recover as soon as we fix this implant."  
  
"Says you... Right now, her mental state is that of a five year old." Goddard said gruffly. He ran a hand through his short cropped grey hair. These kids were giving him more grey hairs than he wished to have.  
  
THELMA tweaked the implant again. Freya twitched slightly and opened her eyes. For a moment, they were red, then, they turned blue. Freya's eyes blinked and then, recognition came into them.   
  
Freya's head turned to Commander Goddard and gulped. "H-Hello... C-Commander..." she stammered. "What happened to me....?"  
  
"An electrical surge erased your memory for about a week and a half. We've kept you here until we could figure out how to fix your implant...." Goddard said.  
  
Freya checked her arms and legs. Her hands moved as they should and her legs did so as well. "Well... It looks like I'm in good shape...."  
  
"Good... you can join the others in class..." Commander Goddard said with a grin.  
  
"Class? What do you mean...."  
  
"Well... Miss Davenport suggested it.... She said that she would take you in class..." Goddard said. He shrugged at her. "At least you won't be bored..." he lied. He knew very well that Miss Davenport was a slave driver when teaching. He also didn't want a potential problem running around the ship loose.  
  
Freya sighed. "All right... I'll go..." She stood up and stretched. "Where do I have to go?"  
  
"THELMA will show you the way...." Goddard said as he gestured toward THELMA.  
  
Freya looked to THELMA and THELMA started walking for the door. They walked to the jumptubes and THELMA punched the panel. "You will land on the level and go to your right..... I'm sure you will hear the students snoring away..." THELMA said cheerfully.  
  
Freya jumped into the tube and slid down. When she landed on the floor, she dusted off her jumpsuit. She heard Miss Davenport's voice coming from the right. Freya walked down the corridor and found the classroom.  
  
Miss Davenport was talking about thermal waves. Freya looked around and found Radu trying to stay awake. She grinned and walked into the class. Miss Davenport looked up and smiled in a satisfied way. "Miss Freya... will you take this compupad and take a seat?"   
  
Freya smiled sheepishly and walked to the front. Harlan snapped awake and watched her. Bova was snoring and Rosie was nudging him in his ribcage. "Come on, Bova... wake up...." she whispered.  
  
Freya took the compupad and walked over to Radu. She sat down on the column next to his. She was above him, actually. She could glance down and read his notes. She nudged Radu with her knee.  
  
Radu just turned his head and looked up at her. "I was already awake... kind of hard not to be when you have ears like I do...." he whispered flatly. Freya's cheeks turned pink as she mouthed an apology.  
  
After class ended for lunch, Harlan cornered Radu in the cafeteria. "Wh-What?" Radu stammered. "What do you want.... Why are you glaring at me like that...."  
  
Harlan was glaring, though he hadn't realized it. Harlan breathed in a deep breath and let it out in a growl. "Suzee has been buggin' me to stop off at a planet to see if they have anything we could use for supplies...."  
  
"Harlan... It's lunch time... I haven't even had the chance to EAT yet, much less get to my post to check the read outs...." Radu said as he gave Harlan a sour look. "Besides... the Christa has provided us rather adequately so far..."  
  
"Ever since we crashed on that one planet, we've had problems, right?" Harlan said.   
  
"We have problems on a normal basis...." Bova drawled just before stuffing a large sandwich in his mouth.  
  
"The point is that to get Suzee off of my back, I'm going to have to get on yours...." Harlan said gruffly as he stuffed some of his sandwich in his mouth.  
  
Radu gave Harlan a sour glance before taking a bite of his food. Harlan smirked. He had won this battle. The real battle was to see if the nearest planet had even any decent plant life that wouldn't try to eat them in the process.  
  
Suzee walked in and went to food wheel. She turned it and out came a tube. She took a plate and sat down at the table. She poured the dehydrated substance onto the plate and dropped some water onto it. It became actual food that she could eat.  
  
"Radu... could you go check the computer for any signs of any habitable planets in the area?" she said as she made an irritated side glance to Harlan.  
  
"I already asked him, Suzee..." Harlan said flatly.   
  
"Why do you want to find a planet near us, Suzee?" asked Rosie.  
  
"We're running short on some supplies, Rosie.... I just want us to be able to go anywhere without dying of thirst, starvation or the cold of space...." Suzee said. Everyone stared at her incredulously. She glanced up. "What?"  
  
Suzee finished her food and took her plate to the sink. "Well... if you think we're fine to go, that's up to you!" Suzee growled. Then, she stalked to the door, where she rammed her shoulder into Freya.  
  
Freya stared back at Suzee as she stalked down the corridor. "What's up with her..." she said to the others.  
  
"I think she's losing it...." Harlan said.  
  
"Too late, she already lost it...." Bova said.  
  
Freya walked up to the food wheel and stared at it. Rosie and Radu turned around and saw the confusion written on her face. "Is something wrong, Freya?" Rosie asked in a concerned tone.  
  
"Er... What does this thing do....?" Freya asked sheepishly.  
  
Rosie looked at Radu and he stared back at her. They both shrugged and got up. Radu stood behind Freya and turned the wheel. "You turn the wheel and, hopefully, you get something you can eat...." he said.  
  
Rosie grinned sheepishly. "Sometimes it gives us what a different person wants... like Harlan will end up with Radu's food instead of his own food."  
  
When the wheel stopped spinning, a tube popped out. Freya picked it out and stared at it. "This is food?" she said flatly.  
  
"Come over here...." Rosie beamed at her. Freya followed Rosie and gave her the tube. Rosie took the top off of it and poured out some kind of powder onto a plate. Then, she dropped water on it and stuck into some kind of device. When she took it out, Freya had some kind of fish on her plate with odd looking vegetables. "Now this looks interesting...."  
  
"It recreated terkil fish... and some other stuff...." Freya said as she poked it. "I think some of this is growing intelligence, though...."  
  
"Just stick a fork in it... it'll die eventually..." said Harlan from the table.  
  
Freya sat down at the small table and started eating. "IT tastes alright, I guess..." Freya said. "What was all that about finding a planet near us...?"  
  
"Suzee thinks we're going to run out of supplies soon...." Bova stated.  
  
"But I looked into the database of the Christa's computer and it didn't say anything...." Freya said as she took another bite.  
  
"When did you get the chance today...." Harlan asked as he raised an eyebrow at her.  
  
"Just before I got in here...." She saw the looks on Harlan and Radu's faces. "What... I was alone... Goddard only THINKS he's got me covered..."  
  
"He doesn't trust you?" Rosie said.  
  
"Why should he... I'm a newbie here and I'm a hacker... I could hack into the Christa's computer at any moment and steal information if I so chose..." Freya said. "Honestly, though.... He's too paranoid... First off... Why would I want to hurt any of you.. You all are so nice to me and take care of me when my brain goes on the fritz..."  
  
"Because Commander Goddard enjoys finding out conspirators?" Bova drawled.  
  
"How did you guys get out here in the first place..." Freya asked.  
  
"I, Commander Goddard and Miss Davenport are from a planet called Earth. The rest of these guys are from planets in the same solar system...." Harlan started into his own version of the story. "Well... except cinnamon swirls for ears next to me..."  
  
"Hey!" Radu protested.  
  
"Anyway... We were all in a school to become Stardogs..."--Bova coughed something like, "Only you!"-- "and we found this ship docked outside of the station we were in.... When we went inside, Miss Davenport and Commander Goddard came aboard to find us... Suddenly, we broke away from the station and the Christa flew through a spacial rip..."  
  
"Has Suzee always been this anal, though?" Freya said.  
  
"Oh! You forgot about Cat!" Rosie gasped.  
  
"Suzee came aboard when we lost one of the original members of this crew... She was from Saturn and her name was Catalina...." Harlan continued. There was something hidden in his dark eyes when he said her name. "She was the ship's engineer with the help of Suzee...."  
  
"O-of course, we never saw Suzee..." Radu said.  
  
"Yeah,... We thought she was Cat's imaginary friend..." Bova drawled.  
  
"That was until a ship attacked us and..." There was a darkness in Harlan's eyes. It made his eyes darker for a moment, then he spoke again. "And Suzee exchanged places with Catalina."  
  
"Meaning, Cat got to go to another dimension while we got landed with Suzee....." Bova stated.  
  
"Then, we crash landed on a planet and stayed there for a few months. Commander Goddard had been put out of commission at some point...." Harlan said.  
  
"We got to sample what it was like to be the other during one adventure...." Rosie said.  
  
"I got to play the Andromedan...." Harlan said. "Michael Bolton hair and all...."  
  
"I was a Uranian...." said Rosie. "It was very interesting to have that V on my forehead...."  
  
"I was a Mercurian....perky and all..." Bova drawled.  
  
"Suzee traded places with THELMA...." Rosie said. "And THELMA became a... uh... Yesnidian!"  
  
"She nearly went nuts..." Bova said.  
  
"I-I was a human...." Radu said as he wrung his hands nervously.  
  
Freya stared at Radu. It made him even more nervous to have those eyes of hers boring into him. "You would make a very handsome human..." she said.  
  
Radu blushed. Harlan gave a mock gasp of shock. "AH! Well, there you have it... Radu is better looking than me..."  
  
Freya laughed. "You're not that bad looking either!"  
  
Suddenly, the intercom sounded off. "Crew to the command deck!" It was Suzee's voice. "Crew to the command deck!"  
  
"Why do things always happen at lunch time...." grumbled Bova as he dashed from his chair.  
  
They filed into a jumptube and landed on the command deck. They ran onto the bridge. Suzee was at the engineering console, looking at the readouts. Harlan reached the helm. "What's going on, Suz... What's happening..."  
  
"I was tired of waiting for Radu to get his ass up here, so I decided to find the nearest planet myself...." She glanced up with a wide grin. "I found one..."  
  
Harlan was clearly annoyed. "Suzee... I told you that we would get to it when we--"  
  
"Harlan! There's a planetoid coming up fast...!" Radu said as he read the navigation readouts.   
  
Harlan gripped his console and glared at Suzee. She busied herself with her own console, not paying any attention to Harlan. He concentrated on stopping the Christa before he rammed into anything. He wondered briefly how she had managed to get the ship to steer without him.  
  
Then, Harlan was able to slow down the Christa. On the view screen, he saw the planet. It was blue and green and brown. It reminded him of Earth. "Whoa...." was all he managed to say.  
  
"A pretty planet, I might say...." said Freya. She was silent for a moment. "Is the Christa atmosphere capable?"  
  
"Huh?" said Bova.  
  
"Can she fly in an atmosphere....? Land on the planet....?" Freya clarified. "It might be fun to explore...."  
  
"Even if Suzee's a brain case?" Bova asked.  
  
"Come on... Freya's probably right.... It would be fun...." said Rosie.  
  
"Don't you guys remember what happened the last time we tried to land on a planet...." Bova said.  
  
"I can land us!" Harlan protested. "Just sit back...."  
  
Then, the Christ flew towards the planet. Commander Goddard stalked in and saw the screen. "Whoa..." was all he managed to say.  
  
"We're going to land on the planet and see if we can find anything useful!" Freya said cheerfully.  
  
Goddard choked on something. "We'll use too much fuel! We can't do that!" He ran over to Harlan and slapped him hard on the shoulder. "We need to pull back!"  
  
"Why, man!?" Harlan growled.  
  
The Christa stopped anyway, due to Harlan's unwitting motions. Then, she plunged into the atmosphere. Harlan hung onto the console as he steered the ship through the atmosphere.   
  
The Christa flew through clear blue skies. Through white, puffy clouds, it made it's descent. "Do you remember how to land?!" Goddard choked.  
  
"Yeah! Like this!"  
  
The Christa pulled up suddenly, then small feet came out of her hull. The Christa was getting closer to ground. Harlan kept his hands on the crystals, working them within an inch of their life.  
  
Then, the ship landed. Harlan grinned at Goddard. "See? I did it..."  
  
Goddard started strangling Harlan. Freya, who was closer, grabbed his jumpsuit and pulled him off. "Down boy! Down!"  
  
"You could've killed us by doing that stupid move!" Commander Goddard growled.  
  
"I said... CALM DOWN!" Freya growled. Goddard stopped shouting and looked to her. "We got here safely... okay? It was Suzee's idea in the first place...."  
  
Goddard straightened up. He dusted his jumpsuit off and ran a hand through his short cropped hair. He glared at Harlan sternly. "Alright...." he said curtly.  
  
"Good... then we can go down and check for things we can use!" Suzee said in an eerily cheerful voice.  
  
Goddard stared at her incredulously, but didn't say anything. Rosie came up. "We could all use a vacation from the ship.... The readouts say that it's got an atmosphere and plant life similar to Earth!"   
  
Goddard grunted. "Fine.... go on out.... but make sure you stick together..." He walked toward the door. "I'll go retrieve Miss Davenport."  
  
Harlan gave Suzee and Radu a satisfied grin. "Let's get ready..." he said. 


	2. The Planet

A/N: I just found out that # 2 of Cardcaptor Sakura: Master of the Clow is in! ACK! I can't wait to go get it! ::weeps:: I'll have to wait a day before I can retrieve my copy....  
  
I heard that Space Cases will be aired on the Sci-Fi channel at some point. I hope it will be soon! I'm gonna buy a bunch of video tapes and tape it all! ::grumbles:: I haven't seen it since I was fourteen! ::growls::  
  
I just watched that LotR South Park episode. It was funny! Cartman was Gandalf. Stan was Frodo, I think and I don't remember who Kyle was dressed as. When they got into the town with the Two Towers Video Store, they came across a few kids dressed up in black robes and playing Harry Potter. Cartman laughs at them and calls them Fags. I would punch him, but he's not real and I am....  
  
  
  
  
Chapter Two  
  
  
  
  
  
Rosie walked down the plank and stepped down on fresh green grass. There was a pleasant breeze blowing about. "Come on guys! It's great out here...." Rosie said cheerfully.  
  
Bova came out next. "Too pretty... next thing you'll see out here are a bunch of evil demon dogs out to eat us...." Bova grumbled.  
  
Suzee came up behind Bova. "Oh be quiet, Bova... You're ruining the moment!" she said in that same eerily cheerful voice.  
  
Radu came up behind her. Harlan came up behind Radu and tapped him on the shoulder. "What's up with her..." he hissed.  
  
Freya came up behind Harlan. She glanced around her. "Oh wow! So this is what Earth looks like?"  
  
Harlan stared at Freya for a second. "Uh... in a sense...."  
  
"Hmm... This'll be hard on me..." she said. "My planet is completely covered with water...." she said as she pulled down her collar to reveal the gill slits on her neck.   
  
"A city chick, eh?" Harlan said with a wide grin.   
  
Suzee glared at him. "Can we get a move on....?" she snapped.  
  
"Yes... we ought to go now...." Rosie said.  
  
"Let's go on and split up..." Bova said.  
  
"Fine... I'll go with Suzee....." Harlan said as he assumed the leader position. "Bova and Rosie.... and Radu with Freya...." Harlan walked over to Suzee with a grin. "Let's go and have fun!"  
  
"We o-ought to meet up in an hour..." Radu said.  
  
Harlan and Suzee walked off in one direction. Bova and Rosie walked over toward a lake that was on Rosie's scanners in her compupad. Radu and Freya walked off toward a forest.   
  
Inside the forest, Radu helped to keep the branches out of the way of their path. "Freya... when you said your planet was entirely covered with water.... where did you grow up, then...."  
  
Freya avoided a fallen tree on the ground. She jumped on top of it and then jumped down. "Ah! Well... Selaran's either live under neath the ocean.... or on top of it. I grew up in one of the largest cities on my planet, which is underneath the water. In a sense... your friend Harlan was right..." She jumped off of a rock. "I am a city girl...." She smirked at Radu. "What about you, Radu... what's your life like...."  
  
Radu jumped off of the rock she had gotten off of. "I was the three hundred eighty-sixth hatchling in the cycle for the Andromedans...." He said. He was silent for a few moments. "I'm... about thirteen or fourteen in Earth standard time...." he said.   
  
"That's it? Nothing more than that?" Freya asked in a surprised tone. Then, she narrowed her eyes at him. "You're keeping something from me...."  
  
He gulped. "N-no... I'm not..."  
  
Freya stared at him with those eyes of hers boring into him. He was getting uncomfortable with her staring at him like that. Then, she adverted her gaze. "Fine... let's go..." she said in a tone that seemed a bit lower than her normal range.  
  
  
  
Rosie and Bova found themselves inside a forest. "We're lost, aren't we..." said Bova.  
  
"No we're not, Bova, we're just in a forest... I'm sure the lake is around here somewhere...." Rosie said. "It's on my compupad, right here..."  
  
"That doesn't look like a lake to me..." Bova grumbled. Rosie glared at Bova, then rolled her eyes at him.  
  
"Come on... It shouldn't be much further...." she said.  
  
  
  
Harlan and Suzee walked along the street that lead them into a broken down city. The buildings were falling apart and the road was coming apart as well. "Man... Something really bad happened here..." Harlan said.  
  
"It's trivial... let's see if any technology is left over in this place....." Suzee said as she pressed on the quest at hand. Harlan was getting worried there was something wrong with her.  
  
He also felt as though someone was watching them. He kept his guard up as they walked around. Suzee had her compupad with her and she was using the scanners on it to examine things.  
  
"The road we're walking on.... it made out of.... rock and wood made into a mulch..." she said. "And metal in here as well... Interesting...."  
  
"Suzee.... I think we ought to turn back...." Harlan said.  
  
"Nonsense.... we're getting close to usable material... I just know it!" she said excitedly. Harlan wasn't comfortable. He followed her, though.   
  
  
  
"So you calculated your age, finally, eh?" Freya asked as she squatted on a high rock. She glanced around the area. "I smell fresh water around here...."   
  
Radu could hear everything around him. "There's a water fall near here..." He corrected her. "It has a particular sound..."  
  
"It has a particular smell...." Freya said shortly.  
  
They walked along until they found the water fall. It's spray blew into their faces. Radu smiled at the feeling. It smelled and felt wonderful. The noise was way too loud for him though. He tried his best to tune out the roar.  
  
When he opened his eyes, he saw Freya on the ground, taking her boots off. "What are you doing...." Radu asked.  
  
Freya took off her jumpsuit. She was lucky that she was wearing the blue T-shirt underneath and a pair of shorts. "I'm about to take a swim...." she said as she stood back up.  
  
Radu stared at her. She smiled. "Come on... take off that jumpsuit and jump in with me..." she beamed at him.   
  
She jumped into the cold water. She breathed in the water and let it filter through her gills. It was fun to use them again.   
  
"I... I..uh.. I don't feel like going in right now...." Radu stammered. He sat down at the edge of the water, though.   
  
Freya felt the vibrations and heard his voice. Her ears immediately interpreted for her. She came up out of the water. She watched him from the water as she treaded the water. "So you finally figured out how old you were?"  
  
Radu had been lamenting when he caught her words. It took a second for him to interpret. "Ah... uh... y-yeah... in a sense... I figure we've been out here for a couple of years, so far..."  
  
"Oh.... I see...." Freya said. Then, she dove under again.  
  
  
  
Rosie and Bova kept wandering. "I'm telling you, we're lost...." Bova said.  
  
"We are not lost..." Rosie said.  
  
"Are too..."  
  
"Are not..."  
  
"Fine... where is the lake that we were going to...." Bova said as she sat down on a rock.  
  
"It should be around here somewhere...." Rosie said cheerfully. "If you weren't complaining, we would find it..."  
  
"Right... as if the lake will suddenly appear because I shut up..." Bova retorted. Rosie glared at him then looked at her scanner again. Bova glanced around. "Besides... I keep getting this feeling we're being watched....."  
  
"You're just being paranoid, Bova..." Rosie sighed.  
  
  
  
Freya came up again with a look of concern on her face. "What about your girlfriend, Elmira... wouldn't she have liked to come out?"  
  
Radu stopped pulling up bits of grass. "Hmm? She isn't my girlfriend...." He said as he blushed. "Besides.... she usually likes to keep isolated away from everyone...."  
  
"Hmm.... I wonder why...?" Freya said. "She was in the girls' bunkroom on my first night on the Christa..."  
  
Radu watched her. Her eyes went unfocused for a moment. "She doesn't trust me either......" she said. "None of you really do...." Radu didn't say anything. He just watched her.  
  
"I-It's not because you can get into all of our personal files...." Radu finally stammered out. "Y-you can read our thoughts.... It's enough to make anyone a little nervous, really...."  
  
"No I can't...."  
  
Radu did a sort of double take. He stared at her. "What do you mean..."  
  
"After that last power surge, I couldn't read anyone.... though I still retain my ability to sense feelings...." Freya said. "That's just part of my being Selaran.... we're a race of empaths...."  
  
"Do you know what I'm feeling..." Radu asked.   
  
"Slightly embarrassed at your gumption...." said Freya dismissively.  
  
He blushed. It was true that he wasn't very good at acting gung ho. He preferred to stay the follower on almost everything. "You're very strange.... you know that?"  
  
"I get that a lot...." Then, she dove under the water again.  
  
  
  
Harlan and Suzee found an abandoned restraunt. It was grey and dust covered. There wasn't anything that didn't look like it hadn't been through a few hundred years of nonactivity.  
  
"This place is giving me the creeps... I really feel like someone's watching us.... I'm serious!" Harlan said.  
  
"Aw... is widdle Harwan feewing insecure?" said Suzee in baby talk. Harlan glared at her. "Don't worry... we'll be out of the nasty old restraunt in no t--"   
  
Harlan turned and saw her. Her expression was completely blank. Nothing was registering. "Suzee? Suzee... Are you all right?" He snapped his fingers in front of her face. "Suzee? What's wrong...."  
  
Suddenly, she put her hands up to her ears and screamed a high pitched scream of agony. Harlan stepped back as she sunk to her knees screaming at the top of her lungs. "GET OUT! LEAVE ME ALONE! GET OUT!"  
  
Harlan was aware of someone in the shadows behind Suzee. He saw the eyes. Harlan winced in pain as Suzee's screams pierced him. He reached down and grabbed a small wooden pole lying on the ground. Then, he threw it at the person in the shadows.  
  
They disappeared. Harlan reached down to take one of Suzee's hands which were grasping her ears tightly. "GET OUT! LEAVE ME ALONE!" She screamed even louder. Tears were falling from her tightly shut eyes.  
  
Then, he felt pain. There was a bright light and stars in his eyes. Then, everything went black.  
  
  
  
Rosie and Bova walked along some more. They climbed up a particularly large rock. "This is ridiculous....." Bova growled. "We should've been there by now...."  
  
"Bova... We'll get there at some point... maybe we ought go back to the ChristaaaAAAAAAAH!" Rosie screamed as she fell down off of the rock. She landed hard on her rump.  
  
Bova looked over the edge of the rock. He saw Rosie sprawled over a few small rocks and green grass. "Rosie... Are you all right?" Bova called down.  
  
"Yeah... I'm fine..." she grunted as she got to her feet. She looked down at the compupad in her hand. "And so is the compupad..."  
  
"Well, that's good... maybe with that, we can get back..." Bova said. He started to walk off and find a way down when Rosie gasped. He ran back to the edge and looked down. "What's wrong!"  
  
Rosie was gazing up at the large rock he was perched on. "Look! Look at the rock!"  
  
Bova looked down at the edge of the rock. All he saw was a rock. "What are you talking about... It's just a rock!"  
  
"No! Bova... come down here!"  
  
Bova sighed and rolled his eyes. Then, he looked around for a way to get down. He finally settled on closing his eyes and dropping down like Rosie. He ended up sliding down.   
  
When Bova opened his eyes he saw Rosie smiling down at him. He took her hand and she helped him up. Then, she pointed at the rock. "See? Look!"  
  
Bova turned. What he saw was shocking to him. He saw a massive stone head lying on the ground on it's side. The face was weathered. It was covered by moss and vines. "Wow..." was all that he managed.  
  
"I'm taking a picture of this to send back to the Christa..." Rosie said gleefully. She put the compupad up and punched a button on it. The minute camera on the pad took the shot and made a beep when it was down. Rosie brought the compupad back.   
  
Bova looked at it. It was a good picture. "It's alright..." He said.  
  
"Okay... now to send it...." She punched a button and it made another beep at her. "There... it's done..."  
  
Suddenly, a net went over their heads. Bova tried to focus an electrical shock, but realized that he would probably hurt Rosie in the process. Then, something hit his head. He saw stars for a moment, then everything went black.  
  
  
  
Radu heard something. It sounded as though someone screamed, but it was very far away. He felt uncomfortable now. He swore that someone was watching them. Although, he couldn't hear anything from the deafening roar of the waterfall.  
  
Freya had not come back up, yet. She was still underneath the surface, swimming around peacefully. He nervously wondered how long she would stay under there.   
  
Freya felt Radu's nervousness. She felt as though someone were watching. She felt everything that Radu was feeling at the moment. She swam through the water. She saw something glinting in the sunlight.   
  
She got over to it. It was a badge. It was of some configuration that was unknown to her. It was a triangle with the letter Z on it. She put it into her shorts pocket and swam back toward the surface.  
  
Radu stood up. He still couldn't get past the roar of the waterfall. It was blanketing his hearing. He tried desperately to hear where the something was that was watching him.  
  
Then, Freya jumped out of the water. Radu jumped and fell when she landed on the bank. She was dripping with water and her gills were flared. She gasped to catch her breath as she was converting back into breathing actual air again. "I.... I found something..."  
  
Her gills finally flattened out against her neck as she put her jumpsuit on. She took out something bright silver and triangular. He took it and stared at it as she zipped up the suit. "It has a Z on it... I wonder what it means...." she said.  
  
"That's not the only thing suspicious out here...." Radu said as he got to his feet. "Someone is watching us...."  
  
"Can you pin point where they are?" she asked him.  
  
"No... I can't hear anything beyond this waterfall." He grunted.  
  
Freya glanced around. She too couldn't hear anything beyond the waterfall. Her hearing wasn't as good as Radu's, but it was still rather sensitive. "We need to get back to the Christa...." she whispered softly.  
  
"What?" Radu asked. It was the first time that he couldn't hear anything properly.  
  
"I said..."   
  
Suddenly, there was a pain in Radu's head. He saw stars for a moment, but stayed conscious. His dense and springy hair took most of the blow. He lashed out with one hand and hit Freya across the jaw. She flew back into the water.  
  
"Freya!" He shouted. She didn't move. She was half submerged on the bank.  
  
He caught someone's foot against his chest. He had not seen anyone previously. He turned just as soon as a girl dressed in red hit him with the heel of her hand on his nose. It threw his head back.   
  
He punched at the girl and she dodged. Her red and black hair flew past him. She grabbed his hand and kicked him in the stomach. Then, she kicked him with all her might across his jaw.   
  
Radu saw the twinkling stars again. They were brighter this time. Then, he knew no more. 


	3. Things Go wrong

A/N: Getting more and more interesting, isn't it.... *tee hee* this is what I live for! *tee hee*  
  
rant warning....::: my best friend is a girl named Andrea. She may be my best friend, but there are times that she feels like smacking the crap out of me and I want to do the same. I have been watching Elijah Wood since I was ten, I think... it could be since I was eight, but I can't recall too clearly. Anyway... When I saw him in Flipper, I practically drooled over the boy. I had a nice picture of him and all. I showed it to Andrea and she, being more into Leonardo DiCaprio and Hanson, thought he was ugly. Needless to say, I argued with her.  
  
For four years....  
  
When Lord of the Rings came out, she called me up and said that Elijah Wood was a hottie... end of story...   
  
Now read and Review....  
  
  
  
  
Chapter Three  
  
  
  
  
  
Miss Davenport dictated some notes for the next class. She sat in her chair comfortably with her back straight up against the back of the chair. "Engine repair work is but a skill all need...." she said in her best voice.  
  
Then, the computer blinked at her a message. She put down the compupad she had in her hand and touched the crystal on the control panel. "Incoming message...?" she said.  
  
A picture came up. It was of a large stone head covered in moss and vines. "Interesting... It seems my teachings have NOT been all for naught...."  
  
Then, came a picture of an old, run down building with Harlan standing in front of it waving. "Then again...." she said.  
  
Commander Goddard walked past the classroom where she was. He saw her looking at something and walked in. "TJ...? What are you looking at?"  
  
"Interesting pictures that the students have sent to the ship...." she said. She tapped a crystal and the picture of the stone head came up on the classroom view screen.   
  
Goddard stared at it. He raised an eyebrow. "You know... If I didn't know better... I would say that was taken from in the jungles of India where they have these massive stone heads lying everywhere..." Goddard said.  
  
"Yes... I thought the same.... but they look by far much... much older.... and the shapes are quite a bit different...." She started pointing out the different features of the head. The nose is triangular. The eyes are weathered down like they've been put through millions of years worth of monsoon seasons..."  
  
"It's all very vague...." she finished.  
  
"Are there any others?" Goddard asked her.  
  
"There are other pictures...." She tapped the crystal and another picture came up. It was the picture of Harlan waving. "Mr. Band here is waving from in front of an old building...."  
  
"Typical... he was probably saying 'Cheese' at the same time...." Goddard said with a smirk. He started for the door. "Contact me if you receive any others... I'll be on the command deck..."  
  
  
  
Elmira sat in the secluded room that they had all given her. She preferred to be alone. It gave her a chance to think. It gave her time to see.  
  
She thought about Radu. Something seemed to trouble her greatly about the present. She could feel fear emanating from everywhere. She couldn't figure out why, though. She opened her eyes and took a deep breath. She thought she ought to eat something.   
  
She stood up and walked toward the door. Then, she went to the nearest jumptube and went to the galley.  
  
  
  
Rosie opened her eyes. She had pain in her head for some reason. She was lying on something. She moved her head and saw that she was laying up against Bova, who was asleep. She sat up and got to her feet.  
  
She suddenly realized that she was caged. She saw the bars in front of her. She walked to the bars and touched them. Her mind was too fuzzy to think properly.  
  
Radu opened his eyes and took a deep breath. He felt cold metal on his wrists. He stared blearily at the manacles. "What...?" he muttered.  
  
He then, noticed that he was standing. He noticed that he had chains wrapped around his chest, stomach, and legs. He was completely tied down.   
  
He heard people far off in the distance. He heard people everywhere walking, talking, and eating. Most of all, he heard two people in the room with him. He saw a flash of red and figured it was the girl that had attacked him.  
  
"He's awake..." she said to someone else.  
  
"Go give him some water... he may be a stranger, but that doesn't mean we can't be at least a LITTLE kind..." said another voice. It was a boy.  
  
The girl came into his line of vision. She had cream colored skin, yellow almond-shaped eyes and short black and red striped hair. She wore a red shirt and black pants with black boots. In her hair, there were red feathers. On her face, there were red symbols around her eyes and in the middle of her forehead.  
  
She picked up a metal cup and shoved it under Radu's nose. She smiled coldly at him. "Want any?"  
  
Radu nodded as best as he could. She tilted the cup to his lips. He felt water graze them, so he opened his mouth and got half a mouthful before she took it away. "Feera.... be nice..." said the second voice.  
  
Out came a boy with blue and black hair. He wore black boots, black pants and a black shirt. He walked over to Radu and gave him the rest of the water. Radu smiled and coughed. "Thank you..." he managed to say.  
  
"He gave me a huge bruise on my back...." she growled at the boy. "I have some right in being cruel to him...."  
  
"No you don't, Feera... and you know it.... These are strangers... not the Zeeks themselves...." The boy said. Radu coughed again.  
  
"Wh-Where am I...." He coughed again. "Where is my friend..."  
  
"Your friend had quite the bruise on her jaw.... I hear from Feera that you hit your companion...." the boy said. He had black eyes.  
  
Radu remembered what had happened. He had been hit and whipped around to catch whoever had hit him. In the process, he had hit Freya instead. He bowed his head. "Is she alright?" he asked.  
  
"She will be... as soon as you tell us where you people are from...." Feera said with that cold smile.  
  
"W... We're from a ship...." Radu said weakly.  
  
"A ship? What's that?" The boy said.  
  
Feera growled. "He's lying...."  
  
Radu shook his head fervently. "No I'm not! We stopped here for supplies and that's how you found us!"  
  
"I found you and your friend swimming in our water...." Feera took out the silver badge. "And she had THIS on her...." She threw it at Radu and it bounced off of his dense, springy hair.  
  
"You say that when you hit him the first time, that he didn't even register it?" asked the boy.  
  
"He's very strong...." Feera said with malice in her yellow eyes.  
  
Radu suddenly remembered that he was bound. He wondered if he could break the chains holding him. Feera's smile became wider. "I wouldn't try it, stranger.... Your friends' lives are at stake..."  
  
It hit Radu like a sledge hammer. "Y-Y-You have more?"  
  
"Tobinias brought in two more..." Feera said. "A girl with red skin and a boy with a strange mark on his forehead."  
  
Rosie heard the conversation. She gasped as she realized that Radu was there. Bova was beginning to snore loudly. "Radu! I'm over here!" she cried.  
  
"So... your name's Radu....?" said Feera. "How convenient."  
  
The scary girl with the red and black hair walked over to Rosie and Bova's cage. She opened the door and saw Bova. She glared at him. "Why is he asleep, still!" she growled.  
  
She kicked at Bova, but he amazingly moved his torso away from her blow. The punched at him and his head moved to the side. She punched at him again. He moved his head to the other side. "What is WITH this boy!" she huffed.  
  
Rosie stared incredulously at her companion. "You wouldn't believe me if I tried to explain...." she said.  
  
Someone rustled in the cage opposite of Rosie's. She glanced beyond the bars and grass to see Freya in a very odd position. She was lying with her head next to her feet. Rosie stared at her incredulously. "How can ANYONE sleep like that!" growled Feera as she continued to try to wake up Bova. His legs were up in the air.  
  
"Why don't you try asking that green haired girl that!" said the boy with the blue and black hair. Rosie saw the boy give a great sigh. "Derek will throw a fit if he found out she was up to her old tricks again...."  
  
Rosie walked out of the cage. It was an easy thing to do since Feera was busy with Bova and she had left the door open. She walked over to the boy and smiled. She noticed that he had small blue triangles in the middle of his forehead down between his eyebrows. He was almost as pale as Feera. He looked surprised at her being out. "C-Can you tell me what's going on?"  
  
He stared at her. "I'd like to ask you the same.... our scouts caught you in the forest without any tribal marks...."  
  
"Tribal?" Rosie asked. "What do you mean....?"  
  
"Tribal... As in your tribe... Our marks are part of identifying us all... Feera's are red because she is a scout and hunter.... mine are blue because I'm a healer..." the boy said. "My name is Tavik, by the way...."  
  
Rosie chewed her bottom lip nervously. Then, she smiled at Tavik. "M-my name is Rosie.... That boy is Radu.... The girl with the green hair is Freya and the boy sleeping is Bova... We're part of the crew of the Christa...."  
  
Feera walked out of the cage, huffing as she sat down in a chair from exhaustion. "That boy is like a Dark Skill master or somethin'!" she gasped. Then, she fell asleep.  
  
"Poor, poor Feera... I guess she's not used to being opposed..." Tavik said.  
  
Bova could still be heard snoring. Freya was now beginning to snore. Rosie kept smiling at Tavik. "Could you tell us if you found our other two members?"  
  
Tavik looked startled. "Two more? They didn't bring anymore in except you four..."  
  
"Then.... where could they be?" Rosie asked.  
  
  
  
Harlan was slapped awake. He had pain everywhere in his body. He especially had a nasty headache. He opened his eyes and saw some strange girl about his age grinning maliciously at him. She had half of a metal mask on that covered around her right eye. She had green eyes and long black hair with green braids in it. On the visible side of her face, she had black marks around her eyes. "Good day, sleepy head..."  
  
"H-How do you know how to speak m-my language...." Harlan managed to say through the haze in his mind.  
  
She glared down at him. "What do you mean! This is how everyone speaks!"  
  
"Only if the writer can't figure out a new language...."  
  
"What did you say?!"  
  
"I said, why am I here!" Harlan growled.  
  
"You were in our city... anyone who doesn't wear our tribe's marks gets caught and brought in for questioning..." The girl said.  
  
"Such WONdeful hospitality.... really.. You ought to tell your people to make this a vacation spot..." Harlan said. The girl punched him. When he finished spitting the blood out of his mouth, he saw that she was wearing black leather gloves.   
  
She cracked her knuckles. "Zanathos is waiting for some info, so you might as well cough it all up now..." She leaned in close to Harlan and spoke lower. "Before I have to get rough with you...."  
  
"You mean you aren't rough now? Geez... you better have a talk with you psychiatrist...." Harlan said with a smirk. The girl gave him a cruel smile.   
  
Then, she punched him as she spoke, as if to emphasize what she was saying. "Wrong (Punchety)... Answer (Punchety)... Boy!(Punchety)."  
  
Harlan leaned his sore head back against the chair he was shackled to. Blood seeped out of his mouth and he had a black eye. He coughed and tasted more blood come into his mouth. He wondered briefly where Suzee was.  
  
A door opened. In came a tall male that Harlan could only see hidden in shadow. He sounded amused. "Continuing with your exorcizes, I see, Treya..." he said.  
  
"Yes, sir!" she said gleefully. "It won't be much longer... He looks like he's willing to tell us where his tribe is..."  
  
Harlan felt the girl grip his head and pull it up into the light. She smiled down at him cruelly. "Sooner or later...." she laughed. "He will tell us... and then we will eradicate them!"  
  
Then, Treya kicked his face with her knee. His head flew back and his nose bled. She punched him in the stomach. She brought her hand around and broke his arm. Harlan then blacked out from the pain. 


	4. The Zeeks

A/N: Poor Harlan... He gets beat up on so much.... *tee hee* Sorry... ,y perverse sense of humor comes out....  
  
I got Sakura: Master of the Clow #2 yesterday and I LOVE IT! @.@ It's sooo cute! I loooooove Eriol and Li! I also loooooove Yue! ::does Yue's-too-cool dance::  
  
::does Eriol's-a-cutie dance::  
  
::does Eriol-and-Sakura-would-be-cute-together dance::  
  
::does Li's-so-clueless-but-he-is-meant-for-the-equally-clueless-Sakura dance::  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter Four  
  
  
  
  
  
"Have you heard anything from them, TJ?" Commander Goddard said as Miss Davenport walked onto the bridge. He trying to see if the crystals would move for him. Of course, it was just wishful thinking.  
  
"Not yet..." Miss Davenport looked severe. She walked over to Goddard and laid a hand on the command console. "They should've reported SOMETHING back in all of this time..." She folded her arms across her chest. "What could they possibly be doing right now...."  
  
Goddard huffed with the effort he had put into the unmoving crystals. He turned to Miss Davenport and shook his head. "Probably having fun.... something you ought to learn about, TJ..."  
  
Miss Davenport puffed up in aggravation. "Something I ought to learn about! Indeed!"   
  
"Miss Davenport... if you are going to flit around in my way... I do suggest that you grab a screwdriver and help me fix some wiring...." Commander Goddard said with a distinctive smirk.  
  
Miss Davenport huffed at Goddard and stalked out the door. "Just you wait, Seth Goddard! I'll get you for that remark!" her voice could be heard walking down the corridor.  
  
  
  
Elmira had pain in her head and her body. She felt as though parts of her were being dug out by someone's hands.  
  
She opened her eyes and stared around. She had been watching through the eyes of someone. It hadn't been Radu. It was definitely not Suzee, Freya, Bova or Rosie. She could only come to the conclusion that it was Harlan's eyes that she saw through.  
  
She closed her eyes. A tall girl with long black hair and green eyes had punched Harlan repeatedly. She opened her eyes and stood up. She would need to get to Miss Davenport and Commander Goddard with this news.  
  
  
  
Harlan woke up with a splitting headache and his arm hurt as well. He opened his good eye and glanced around, wincing painfully at the pain in his neck. His head had been whipped around too much by the green eyed girl. He silently planned how he was going to kill the girl when he got the chance.  
  
He heard someone moan beside him. He glanced down and saw red and blue striped brown hair. Suzee was asleep in the cage next to his and he was leaning on the bars that separated them. She groaned again in her sleep.  
  
"No... get away... get out.... leave me... alone.." she whispered frantically. They were the same words that she had screamed before they were captured.  
  
"Suzee...? Suzee.... can you hear me....?" Harlan whispered to her. He noticed that his bottom lip was slightly puffy.   
  
She didn't wake. She just kept on shaking her head and whispering. "N-No.... I won't do that! Leave me alone! Leave HIM alone!"  
  
"Suzee.... can you hear me!" Harlan said a little louder. He couldn't move his arms. He remembered that his right arm was broken and his other was chained to something.  
  
"She won't wake, you know...." came a familiar cold voice.   
  
Harlan turned and looked up at Treya. He tried to glare at her, but only managed to hurt himself. Treya grinned maliciously at him. "What have you done to her!" Harlan managed to say.  
  
"I? I've done nothing to her...." Treya said with a cold smile. She knelt down and took a lock of Suzee's hair in a gloved hand and gazed at it. "Such a pitiful girl.... can't even fend for herself... what use is she, really...." she growled. She tossed the hair back onto the sleeping Suzee.  
  
"She can too fend for herself!" Harlan said through gritted teeth.  
  
"Really... then why are you defending her...." Treya's smile came back. She opened Harlan's cage door and knelt next to him. She kept that cold smile on her face. She touched his cheek with a gloved hand. "Dark skin... We don't have any of that on our planet.... how exotic...."  
  
Harlan tried to move his head away from her. She grabbed his chin and forced him to look at her. "You could fetch a nice price on the market...." she said. Then, she kissed him on his mouth. He couldn't get away from her face.  
  
Harlan settled for kicking her. His legs didn't seemed to be damaged. She flew away from him in an instant. Treya fell onto her rear and gave him a glare. "You'll pay for that, dark one...."  
  
He tried to get to his feet, but the chain holding his other arm stopped him. He flew backwards and hit the bars between Suzee's cage and his. Treya laughed horribly at him. "Hmm.... I guess I get to have you when Zanathos is through with his little plaything..." Then, she walked out of the room.  
  
  
  
Radu broke the chains holding him in place and took off the bits of metal that still hung onto him. Tavik stared at him incredulously and Feera was still snoring away. He gave a weak smile and walked over to Rosie.   
  
"S-so... you could've done that at any moment?" Tavik stammered out.  
  
Radu smiled weakly. "W-Well... I wouldn't have if that Feera girl wasn't asleep. She's a bit scary...."  
  
"Yes... she is to me as well..." Tavik said with a smile.  
  
Freya finally woke up. She sat up in her cage with her hands tied behind her back. "Where am I...?" she said blearily. She noticed that she didn't have any use of her hands and turned her hands into water so the chains went through her.  
  
Tavik stared at her through the bars as she walked through them. "Feera had told me that she stayed under the water for much longer than normal.... How...?"  
  
Freya gave him a cheerful smile. "Hello! Who are you?"  
  
"T-Tavik...." Tavik stuttered. He was blushing as he smiled at her.  
  
"That's nice... Now..." Freya cracked her neck and smiled. "Who am I...?"  
  
Radu slapped his forehead. It had happened again. Freya's implant had struck again. Rosie smiled and put an arm around Freya's shoulders, as well as she could reach them. "Sorry... she has a sort of... device in her head that malfunctions every now and then...."  
  
Suddenly, Freya jerked and gave a yelp. "YEOWCH!" She shook her head frantically. "That fricken hurt!" she said.  
  
"I think it came back online...." Radu said.  
  
Feera was awake now. She yelped at the sight of Rosie, Radu and Freya being free. "W-What are THEY doing out!" She said as she went into hyperventilating mode.  
  
Tavik walked over to Feera and placed a calming hand on her shoulder. "Calm down, Feera... These people aren't Zeeks...."  
  
Feera gave him stare that made him take his hand off of her. "What about the girl with the Zeek type machine on her neck...." she said flatly.  
  
Freya pointed to herself with a blank expression. "Who.. Me? I've had this thing since I was twelve.... and we all just got on your planet..." she said innocently.  
  
"Likely story..." Feera grunted.  
  
"As if!" Freya growled.  
  
The two girls were locked in a glaring contests. Each growled at the other menacingly. Tavik stared incredulously. Radu watched with his wide innocent looking blue eyes. Rosie smiled cheerfully. "They look like they're having fun!"  
  
"You call that fun?" Radu gave her a frightened glance.  
  
Tavik turned back to Rosie. "Now.. What did you mean about there being another pair of you here...."  
  
"Just what I said... We had another two people in our landing party. They went into that old abandoned city o--"  
  
"ARE YOU PEOPLE INSANE!?" screamed Feera. Freya stared at Feera with an eyebrow cocked.  
  
Tavik was equally stunned. "You won't be getting them back anytime soon, I can guarantee that...."  
  
"W-Why?" Radu said.  
  
Tavik was considering what he should tell them. He settled on taking them to Derek. "Come... Let us give you a better greeting...." he said with a mysterious smile.  
  
"Bu-But..." Rosie stammered.  
  
"Come on... Derek will be waiting..." Tavik said as he gently ushered Rosie out of the small prison house.  
  
  
  
Commander Goddard inched his head out from around a corner close to the galley. He knew that Miss Davenport was after him for the comment he had made. He slunk along the wall as he approached the galley. "Finally.." he sighed in relief as he walked into the galley.  
  
He walked over to the food wheel and spun it. The little device read his genetic make-up and spat out a tube of dehydrated food. Goddard frowned at it. He didn't like the way he had to eat.  
  
When he finished preparing his food, he sat down to eat. He had a sandwich and some mashed potatoes on his plate. He started munching on the sandwich when he thought he heard someone at the entrance. He turned and glanced at the door. Nothing was there.  
  
"I'm getting paranoid... Davenport wouldn't do anything to me... she's more mature than that...." He grunted. He took another bite.  
  
Elmira came into the room. She walked to Commander Goddard with a concerned look on her reptilian face. "What's the matter, Elmira...?" Goddard said with a mouthful of sandwich in his mouth.  
  
"I saw Harlan...."  
  
"Yeah.. You saw the pictures that they sent back... Were there any others that they sent back?" Goddard said as he continued to munch on the sandwich.  
  
"No... you don't I saw Harlan and Suzee..." Elmira said with a little more desperation in her voice.  
  
"Oh... so they sent back more pictures, eh? Let me guess... Miss Davenport sent you tell me, right? So what was going on in the pictures.... Harlan putting a native creature down Suzee's front?"  
  
"No... Harlan was...." Elmira was cut off by something.  
  
Commander Goddard turned just in time to have Hunter, Freya's pet selcar, thrown onto him. Hunter shredded Commander Goddard as he tried to get away. "ARGH!" screamed Commander Goddard.  
  
"Ha ha ha...." said Miss Davenport deliberately. "Now the joke is on you... have a nice day!" She said with a smile.  
  
Goddard stood up and glared at Miss Davenport angrily. "That was completely unfair!"  
  
"Says you, Commander... I told you I would get you back for saying I was stuck up!" Miss Davenport grinned and ran away.  
  
Commander Goddard gave a mighty yell and ran after her. Elmira stayed in the galley and rubbed her temples. She remembered something she had heard Miss Davenport say in class when she passed by one day. "When the mice are away.. The cats will play..." she said. At least, she hoped that was the right saying.  
  
  
  
Inside Suzee's mind, a torrent of information flooded her every particle. She couldn't escape from any of it. She couldn't even hear Catalina scolding her for talking to Harlan. All she could hear was a single voice repeatedly resounding in her head.  
  
"You must tell me where they all are...." said the voice.  
  
"No... leave me alone! Get out! Go away!" was all she could say. Her head throbbed in agony.  
  
"Give me your tribe and I'll leave you alone..."  
  
"Leave me alone, now!"  
  
She was faintly aware of Harlan next to her. She was also aware of someone else in the room with him. She heard Harlan's grunts as he was hit repeatedly by the someone in the room.  
  
She felt the presence in her mind again. It was a boy about the same age as Harlan. She knew that much. "You brought them here.... you will hand them over to me...." he said to her.  
  
"Go away.... no... leave me alone!" she said.  
  
"Tell me where they are hiding...."  
  
"No...."  
  
"You know where they are...."  
  
"I don't know anything.... leave me alone!"  
  
The throbbing came back. It was as if someone was pounding on her head with their fist. "Tell me.... tell me... tell me..." 


	5. Getting to Know You

A/N: I'm sorry if I keep prolonging the inevitable... but it's too much fun! ::evil Ayeka laugh::  
  
If you don't like my stuff, tell my muse over there... ::points to Frodo eating some mushrooms::  
  
Frodo looks up innocently with his huge blue eyes (as if I couldn't make you feel even guiltier.. Hey! I could have used Yukito!):: What did I do, again?  
  
  
  
  
Chapter Five  
  
  
  
  
Harlan woke up again, feeling far worse than he had before. Treya had ceased to beat him, but he still hurt all over from her kicks and her fists. He had no clue why she was hitting him like this and not doing anything to Suzee, either. That was what really made him curious.  
  
He sat up as well as he could. He saw Suzee sitting up against the opposite wall. She was rocking back and forth, muttering things that he could barely hear. Her blue eyes stared around wildly.  
  
"Suzee... are you alright...?" Harlan asked.  
  
"They can't take us... We won't give them away..." Harlan heard her say.  
  
"Suzee... what's the matter..."  
  
She continued to rock back and forth, he knees were pressed up against her chest. Her hair had dust in it and it looked as though she had been trying to tear it out. "They want them... you see? They used me to get them...."  
  
Harlan didn't understand anything she said. He shook his head and she gave great sigh of defeat. "Don't you see... the answer is in my head!"  
  
"Suzee... don't worry... we'll get out of here and you will be all better once THELMA gets to you...." Harlan said in as soothing a voice as he could conjure.   
  
"No... Don't you see... that's what they want! That's what HE wants... He wants them...." Suzee said. She was on her knees now, her eyes pleading with Harlan.  
  
"Suzee... as soon as we find the others... I mean... surely they'll have noticed we're not back yet...." Harlan said.  
  
"No! No! No! He can't have them!" Suzee said. She pounded her fists on the bars separating her from Harlan. "He won't!"  
  
Harlan scooted over to the bars as beck as he could. He leaned against them and laid his head on one of her hands. "Calm down... don't worry... we'll get out of here... I promise...." He looked up into her eyes with his good eye. "I'm sure the others are trying to get to us...."  
  
"That's what we're waiting on...." said Treya, who had been hiding in the shadows. "Don't worry... when we find them and extract the information we want, they'll be killed quite quickly...."  
  
  
  
Elmira gasped as Treya's words came into her head. She knew she had to tell Commander Goddard and Miss Davenport about this. Harlan and the others were in a lot of trouble. She ran out of the galley to the nearest jumptube. She hoped that she could find them in time to tell them.  
  
  
  
Night time was falling over the forest. The trees were alight with little lights everywhere. The four crewmen walked into Derek's tree loft. There were designs everywhere like spider webs.  
  
Then, they reached Derek's main room. There was a boy of no more than possibly sixteen standing in robes of white feathers. His long black hair had violet in it and was tied back into a low ponytail. His blue eyes had an innocent look to them. He glanced over to them. "Hello... and who do we have here?"  
  
"Four crew members of the ship... uh.." Tavik started.  
  
"The Christa..." Rosie corrected.  
  
Freya wasn't paying any attention. She was too busy staring at the boy known as Derek. Radu rolled his eyes at her and turned back to the situation at hand.  
  
Derek smiled cheerfully and waved his hand. "Please… no formalities…. Please stand up, Tavik… Feera…."  
  
Tavik and Feera, who had been kneeling, stood up and smiled. Freya made a sudden jerk next to Radu. She was smiling blankly now. She smiled at Radu cheerfully. "Who are you?"  
  
Radu sighed and hit Freya on the back of her head. She grunted as the implant went back online. "Sorry…" Radu apologized.  
  
Derek raised an eyebrow at Freya and Radu. "What's this…?"  
  
Radu gulped. Freya smiled and stepped forward. "Sir… My name is Freya Zeetsil…. I have a malfunctioning implant at the base of my skull that needs to be hit every now and then…. He was just trying to help…."  
  
"Indeed…." Derek said. He smiled at Freya. "You are interesting, Miss Zeetsil…. I'm sure your …. Implant caused some kind of stir when you came here…."  
  
"In so many words…." Bova drawled.  
  
Derek's gaze fell on Bova. He smiled at him. "And your name would be….?"  
  
"Bova…. That's it…" Bova said flatly.  
  
Derek glanced to Radu with a smile. Radu gulped again. "M-My name is Radu….."  
  
Rosie smiled cheerfully. "My name is Rosie Ianni…"  
  
"It is very nice to meet you all… I am Derek… I am the leader of the Tirateem Tribe… I welcome you all… please… join me for dinner tonight…."  
  
"With that kind of invitation, who can say no… I'm in…." Freya said.  
  
Rosie smiled. "I'll be here…."  
  
"Hello! Does anyone else remember that we're supposed to find Harlan and Suzee?!" Bova said.  
  
Freya suddenly jerked and her expression went blank. "Who's Harlan...? Who's Suzee....?"  
  
Radu hit Freya on the implant and she jerked again with a pained expression. "Damned thing is going to drive me nutty!"  
  
"Where are your friends..." Derek said to Rosie.  
  
"We all split up... I went with Bova to a lake that I thought was somewhere around here.... Radu and Freya went into the woods.... and Harlan and Suzee walked into the small town that we saw." Rosie noticed Derek's expression change to that of pain. "Sir... What's wrong...."  
  
"The city is a dangerous place.... The Zeeks wish to destroy every other tribe they can find.... so that they are the only ones...." Derek said. "I have lost a few of my people to them... other tribes have lost more...."  
  
"Oh aweful!" Rosie said.  
  
"I concur..." Freya agreed.  
  
"W-What do we do, then...." Radu said.  
  
"The only thing I can suggest is that you stay tonight and we go into the city in the morning to retrieve your friends.... hopefully...." Derek said. "Are there anymore of you....?"  
  
"Only one girl by the name of Elmira and two adults.... Commander Goddard and Miss Davenport...." said Rosie.   
  
There was a look of horror on Derek's pale features. "A-Adults...?"  
  
Radu was confused. "Yeah... adults..." He watched Derek carefully. "They are our teachers....."  
  
"What's wrong with adults...?" Freya asked.  
  
"Adults nearly destroyed our planet.... none of us lives past the age of twenty-five, anyway....." said Tavik. He had the expression of a scientist reading his notes.  
  
"Why don't you all live longer....?" Bova asked.  
  
"There's a virus that activates in us all... to age us rapidly until we are nothing but dust...." Tavik said.  
  
"That and the Zeeks kill us as well..." Feera said with a grim expression.  
  
"Is it in the air...?" Freya asked.  
  
"No... it is in us...." Derek said.  
  
"You mean it's genetic...." Freya corrected him. He looked as though he didn't understand. "It's a part of your family... it's a part of your body...." Derek nodded.  
  
Derek suddenly went quiet and solemn. Then, he glanced up at the four sharply. Then, he smiled at them pleasantly. "Come... enough questions..." He clapped his hands and two girls and two boys appeared from behind him. "My friends here will dress you up..."  
  
Bova protested some as one of the boys led him off. "But... I hate dressing up! I look so horrible!"  
  
Radu was escorted by another boy. The boy had brown eyes and blue streaks in his black hair. "Come... I will help you get dressed for the dinner...." The boy said cheerfully. "My name is Traval..."  
  
"R-Radu...."  
  
Rosie got a small girl with pink streaks in her black hair. The girl giggled as she walked forward and took Rosie's hand. "Come along! We don't have long!"  
  
Freya was escorted by a tall girl with red streaks in her hair. She was severe looking, but pleasant all the same. "My name is Derdema... I will help you get dressed for dinner with our great leader..."  
  
Radu was pinched and prodded by the boy named Traval. He stood patiently as the boy put markings of some sort on his face. He had even taken out a knife. "Let's see if I can shorten this hair up a bit... do you mind...?"  
  
"I wouldn't suggest doing that...My hair will dull that knife of yours..." Radu said.  
  
"We'll see...." Traval said cheerfully.  
  
Ten minutes later, Traval have almost no edge left on his knife. HE whimpered at his knife. "M-My knife!"  
  
"I told you..." Radu sighed.  
  
  
Miss Davenport hid under her desk. It was a childish thing to do, but she didn't want Commander Goddard to find her before the children got back.   
  
She reached up and slowly pulled the compupad off of her desk. She checked the time. The students had been away for nearly three hours. She growled as her lips thinned.  
  
She looked up and saw a face staring at her with his fingers in his mouth, pulling the edges and making a crude face at her. Commander Goddard stuck out his tongue at her. "Ppfft! Found you!"  
  
Miss Davenport poked him in the eye. "You can't be serious!"  
  
Goddard jumped back and got to his feet. "That fricken hurt, TJ…"  
  
"Oh boo hoo…. The students are late, Seth…. We need to call them back…." Davenport said sternly. She was in teacher mode again.  
  
Goddard straightened his jacket and looked at her. "How long…?"  
  
"About three hours since the last transmission….." She said and as she glanced at the compupad again.  
  
"Three hours…? What on Earth could they be doing for three hours…." Seth said incredulously. Then, he slapped his forehead as something came into his brain. "Six teenagers…. Running around who knows where……" He trailed off.  
  
"Well at least Elmira stayed behind…." Davenport said as she crossed her arms in front of her.  
  
Seth glanced up at her. "Where is Elmira, anyway… I haven't seen her since the mess hall….."  
  
"Probably off meditating or soul searching or whatever it is that she does….." Davenport said harshly.  
  
Elmira walked into the classroom at that moment. "There you two are…." She said in a relieved manner.  
  
"What's wrong, Elmira…." Davenport said.  
  
Elmira walked over to them. "They need help….."  
  
Goddard took over. "What do you mean…."  
  
"They need you… They are in trouble…."  
  
Goddard tugged at the hem of his coat. He ran a hand through his hair and thought about what they should do. He didn't know what Elmira saw, so he didn't know what he was getting into. Elmira never told gave a straight answer.  
  
Miss Davenport gave him a worried glance. Goddard gave her a reassuring nod. "Miss Davenport and I will go out together and find them…. You stay here….." 


	6. Attack!

A/N: There is something amazing about my grandpa…. He's impatient….   
  
He asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I had told him that I wanted a couple of CDs, so if he had a Sam Goody or something like that in Georgia, I could get them. He asked me what CDs I wanted to get. I told him that I really wanted the Two Towers Soundtrack and I wanted the CD from a local band in Austin called the Riddlin Kids.  
  
I repeat… a LOCAL band…  
  
He asked me how to spell it…. Then, wouldn't listen when I said that it was a LOCAL band.   
  
When I got back from my week long trip to Houston to visit family Christmas, I found my package in my mailbox. I opened it and found the Two Towers there. I suddenly realized that there were two CD cases there. I took out the second one and was completely stunned. He had found a Riddlin Kids album in Georgia…. That means that they are more popular than I had originally thought.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter Six  
  
  
  
  
  
In the dining hall, the four crew members found themselves in awe of everything around them and each other. Rosie had yellow markings around her eyes and wore necklaces of beads and feathers.   
  
Freya wore a thin silvery ring around her neck with a strange pendent. The pendent was a silver ring with three blade looking spokes inside of it. It had an odd design in it that was a sort of swirl. She had blue markings around her eyes and in the middle of her forehead. Her shoulder length, wispy green hair was pulled up in a ponytail and had purple feathers sticking out of her hair.  
  
Radu's curls were doing their notorious work. Traval had settled with just keeping Radu's hair in a low ponytail. Radu had green markings around his eyes and wore a torque of some unknown silvery metal.   
  
Bova was the least decorated of the four. He had a few markings on his cheeks, but wasn't wearing anything more than what he had come in. The boy who had been preparing him had suddenly come down with a nervous breakdown as he tried to get a smile out of Bova.  
  
Feera was there with her red feathers hanging from the short strands of her hair. She was wearing something red and fancy looking with shimmery beads dangling off of the edges.  
  
Tavik was wearing a black outfit that no one could really get a good look at. He looked relatively normal.  
  
Derek stood up. He raised his glass and smiled down at everyone. "Welcome, my guests…. I have brought my guests here this evening…. Everyone…" He indicated the foursome. "Meet Rosie Ianni…. Freya Zeetsil…. Radu … and Bova…."  
  
Everyone seated at the long table clapped. Bova looked a bit nervous as did Radu. Rosie and Freya smiled cheerfully at everyone.  
  
After everyone had finished clapping, Derek smiled appreciatively at them. "Thank you…." He sat down and beckoned everyone to start eating. "Now… let us enjoy this meal…."  
  
  
  
Commander Goddard and Miss Davenport walked into the woods ahead of them. It was dark outside. There were two moons glowing in the sky above them.  
  
"Can't we just call them using the compupads?" Miss Davenport said weakly as she narrowly avoided having a leaf land on her.  
  
"No… They need us… And the picture you got from Rosie was from a wooded area…." Commander Goddard said sharply.  
  
"B-but… Harlan and Suzee were in the city….." Miss Davenport stuttered nervously.  
  
"Let's just keep going, Miss Davenport…."  
  
  
  
The night was cold and warm. Despite having as good of ears as Radu had, he couldn't hear past the voices and loud music of the dancers in front of him.   
  
It was all too loud for his sensitive hearing to deal with. Freya had long ago come up behind him and pressed her hands over his ears. "That help any?" she shouted at him over the music.  
  
"I'm right next to you…. You don't need to yell…." Radu jerked away from her when she shouted at him.  
  
"Sorry…." Freya's face suddenly lit up. "Hey! Why don't you dance a bit!"  
  
"Huh?!"  
  
Freya indicated the dancers taking Rosie's hands and pulling her to her feet. "Come dance with us! Come dance!"  
  
Rosie joined the circle of dancers and tried dancing to their steps. They were doing a sort of jig that was a bit difficult.  
  
"N-N-No! I am NOT dancing!" Radu stammered.  
  
"Aw… come on… there's a cute girl over there that's winking at you!" Freya said gleefully.  
  
Radu blushed and didn't turn. "You're bluffing! There's only dancers over there…."  
  
"Come on…." Freya growled and grabbed his wrists. She tossed him into the dancing area. Everything seemed to be spinning for him as she twirled both of them in a circle. She was laughing.  
  
Bova was having even less fun. He was drinking the liquid that the servers had given him. His brain was going slightly numb on him and he couldn't think too clearly.  
  
He stood up and stumbled over to one of the dancers. He must have accidentally grabbed something, because she slapped him across the face. "SHITAL!" she screamed at him. He didn't even dare ask for a translation.  
  
Rosie came over to him and giggled at him. "Come on, Bova….! Come dance!"  
  
She grabbed his arm and dragged him over to the dancing circle. There, his addled brain barely registered anything. He held onto one girl's hand next to him and the other was being held by Rosie.   
  
  
  
Elmira could feel something was about to happen. She could feel the beat of the drums as they grew faster. She could feel her own heart pounding in anticipation. In anxiety. In fear.  
  
  
  
Commander Goddard suddenly heard something. It sounded like a small flock of birds flying off all at once. Goddard caught a flash of a figure running.   
  
He grabbed Miss Davenport and rolled them both under a large bush. He clasped a hand over mouth before she could say anything. She grunted softly as he shushed her.  
  
He saw another figure flash past silently. It was like watching ghosts run.  
  
  
  
Radu was beginning to have fun. He was dancing with Bova, Rosie and Freya in a large circle in dancers. They spun around in a large circle to the drums.  
  
Then, suddenly, the drumming stopped. Rosie glanced over and saw a horrific sight. One of the drummers had a hole in his head. There was blood coming out of it and oozing over his features.  
  
Suddenly, several more people were shot. Feera screamed. "Everyone! It's the Zeeks!"  
  
Freya was nearly decapitated by a laser like shot. She ducked down in time to avoid another strange instrument hitting her.  
  
Radu wasn't nearly as lucky. He was slashed across his chest by a laser like blast. He suddenly felt something brush past his neck and he whirled around and hit the Zeek behind him. The Zeek fell to the ground in a clump.  
  
Bova zapped two Zeeks with a controlled blast from his antennae. They jerked around in a singed mess on the ground in front of him.  
  
Rosie punched a boy on the nose and he fell back. Her hand hurt where her knuckles met with his skull. Suddenly, someone threw a javelin at her.   
  
Derek stepped in front of her before it hit her. It went through him and grazed past her waist. She caught him as he fell down.  
  
Freya kicked a Zeek that was behind her. She thrust her elbow at another's jaw. Then, she scissor kicked another one.  
  
Something cut across Radu's jaw. It was a fist from a particularly angry looking woman with black and green hair. She smiled cruelly at him as he blacked out.  
  
Freya kicked the girl in the stomach. "Bitch! How dare you hit a sweet guy like him!"  
  
The girl had half a metal mask on over her right eye. She smiled at Freya and punched at her. Her hand went through Freya. She stared down at her arm and saw that around her arm, Freya was rippling like water.  
  
"Demon!" the girl screamed and yanked her arm out.  
  
Freya fell to her knees. She had never done something like that before. It had felt as though a part of her had been yanked out with the girl's arm.  
  
"Retreat! Retreat!" cried the girl with green and black hair.  
  
Suddenly, the fighting stopped. Feera ran after them with another two girls behind her. Bova helped Freya to her feet.  
  
Radu glanced over and saw Rosie and Tavik with Derek. Tavik was holding Derek as he tried to get the javelin out of his stomach. "Derek… hold on…!" Tavik said.  
  
"Dear brother… I am done for…" Derek said softly. He put a hand to Tavik's fearful eyes. "It will be your turn to lead them, Tavik…."  
  
"Derek… no… hold on…!"  
  
Radu ran over to Rosie. She had tears in her eyes and blood on her hands. "I couldn't help him, Radu…."  
  
Radu held Rosie to him comfortingly. "It's okay…."  
  
"N-No… He jumped in front of me to save me from the… the Zeeks….." Rosie snuffled into his shoulder.  
  
"I know… I saw…." Radu said softly.  
  
"Take care of them…. Tavik…. Make sure the strangers are safe…." Derek said.  
  
"N-No… I can heal you… It's not that bad….!" Tavik insisted. "Watch… I can heal you…."  
  
Feera showed up and laid a hand on Tavik's shoulder. She kneeled down and looked at Derek's wound. A tear rolled down her pale cheek. "I will see you in the next life, old friend…." She said to Derek.  
  
"No! He's going to live!" Tavik shouted. "I'm NOT going to let you die!"   
  
Feera punched Tavik. He keeled over and didn't move. "Sorry to ruin the mood… but he was getting annoying….."  
  
"Take care of him, Feera… you will be a good wife for him…." Derek said softly with a weak smile. She blushed slightly. Then, Derek went limp in Feera's arms.  
  
Freya grabbed Bova and dragged him over to Rosie and Radu. "Whoa…." Bova said as he stared at Radu rather stunned.  
  
Radu and Rosie looked up at him. "What, Bova…." Rosie said.  
  
"Radu… your hair….." Freya said.  
  
Radu brought a hand up to his neck. His ponytail was gone. He had short curls in his hands. "H-How…?"  
  
"Don't know, but we'll need to shorten up your bangs so your hair doesn't fall in your face." Freya said.  
  
"What did that…." Rosie said.  
  
Radu pointed to the body of Zeek that he had hit. Freya ran over and picked something out of the boy's hand. "Odd lookin' knife, this boy has…."  
  
She came back and Radu got a look at the contraption. It was a laser cutter. "Whoa…." Was all that Radu said.  
  
"Come, Tavik… let us all rest…" Feera said to the unconscious Tavik as she threw him over her shoulder. 


	7. New Look for Radu

A/N: BWAHAHAHAHAHA! I gave him short hair! HAHAHAHAHA! And there ain't nothin' you can do to stop me! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!  
  
The way I draw him with short hair, it looks good…. That's why I did that…..  
  
  
  
  
Chapter Seven  
  
  
  
  
  
Suzee dreamed. She dreamt peacefully about being back on board the Christa.   
  
Then, the dreaded voice was inside her again. It came at her hard, like she was being slapped. "I THOUGHT YOU SAID THEY WOULD BE IN THE WOODS!"  
  
Suzee screamed in pain. She couldn't think. All that was around her, she wasn't aware. She was falling deeper into her own mind.   
  
  
  
Commander Goddard woke up. His eyes snapped open and he found Miss Davenport was still in his arms. She seemed to be awake as well.   
  
"Miss Davenport….?"  
  
"It's about bloody time you woke up…." Miss Davenport snapped. Commander Goddard let go of her and she stood up, laying a hand on her lower back. "I have SUCH a crick in my back because of you…."  
  
"Have we been out here all night?" Goddard said as he rubbed one of his temples.  
  
"Yes! Yes we have and if you do not mind, I think I shall go back to the Christa before you come up with another clever way of making me play soldier…." Miss Davenport snapped at him. Then, she took out a compupad and walked away.  
  
"This is a fine mess…." Goddard muttered as he stood up. Miss Davenport suddenly appeared from another direction. He raised an eyebrow at her. "Come back to berate me some more….?"  
  
"No…. I'm lost…" she said with a bright smile.  
  
  
  
  
"Well… that's better…" said Rosie as she gazed at Radu's now short and curly hair. It was more like a helmet.  
  
"I know what it needs…. Something to keep it permanently wavy… you know… something that will weigh it down so that it doesn't look like he's wearing a helmet…." Said Freya cheerfully.  
  
Radu stared at his reflection in the makeshift mirror in front of him. He had to wonder if the girls weren't slightly insane.  
  
"But what kind of material will do that once and only once… we don't want poor Radu having to fix his hair every morning…." Rosie said.  
  
"You are soooo lucky that you're bald…." Freya said to Rosie.  
  
"It's a gift…" Rosie beamed.  
  
"Could we please get back to my hair?" Radu asked impatiently.  
  
"Wow… who knew that guys would complain about their hair?" said Freya.  
  
"Who knew that Radu would even care…" said Bova, who had been very quiet as the girls talked.  
  
"I DO care! Just help me fix it, okay!" Radu said in a huff. Then, he started fiddling with the shorter strands. "I miss my long hair…." He whimpered.  
  
"Don't know what you're missing until it's gone…." Bova drawled.  
  
Tavik walked in just then. He smiled weakly at everyone. "Well… It seems that I am the chief of the tribe now….." He said calmly.  
  
Rosie bit her bottom lip. Tavik saw this and smiled. "You need not blame yourself, Rosie…. It was Derek's wish to keep all of you alive…."  
  
He walked over to Rosie and drew her in his arms. She hugged him back and smiled. "Thank you, Tavik…."  
  
When Tavik let go, he glanced at Radu, who was still whimpering about his hair. "What seems to be the problem, Radu…?"  
  
"He's whining because his hair looks like a helmet….." Bova drawled.  
  
"We were trying to figure out a way to weigh it down enough that it doesn't look so curly…. To do it permanently, as well…" said Freya.  
  
Tavik looked stunned. "You don't know the recipe for hair straightener?"  
  
Freya's eyes turned red for a moment. Then, she shook her head. "Hair straightener won't do it…. It needs to be VERY strong and VERY permanent…."  
  
"But that is what I mean! We have our own things for our own hair…. Not everyone in our village has completely straight hair. Those that want it, use a very special plant that penetrates the skin and stays for about twenty years…." Tavik said.  
  
"That's not permanent…." Said Bova.  
  
"For us it is…. Most of us don't get to see our twentieth birthday…." Tavik said.  
  
"We can get seeds and grow our own if it doesn't last very long for Radu…." Rosie said.  
  
"Besides… It's very good to eat!" said Tavik with a grin.  
  
"Oh… it's edible, eh?" said Bova.  
  
"Oh no… if it tastes too good, Bova will eat the entire thing…" Freya laughed.  
  
"I will bring you the plants….. we will give Radu the concentrated version, if it needs to be strong…" Tavik said. Then, he jumped out of the doorway.  
  
"But I don't want straight hair…. I just don't my head to look this big!" Radu sighed.  
  
  
  
Harlan woke up. His arm had been reset by Treya when he was last awake. It was now in a metal cast that he couldn't figure out.  
  
Suzee was in the next cell. He saw her sleeping. It was a good thing she was sleeping. At least Treya didn't hit her or anything.   
  
Then, she jerked awake. "LEAVE ME ALONE!" she screamed.  
  
Harlan leaned through the bars as much as he could. "Suzee!" He hissed.  
  
Her attention came to him. She stared at him as though she hadn't seen him in a very long time. "Harlan….?"  
  
"Suzee… are you alright….?" Harlan whispered to her.  
  
Suzee crawled over to him. She gasped at the metal thing on his arm. "What happened to you…."  
  
"That evil chick, Treya…. She beat me while you slept…." Harlan gave her a weak grin.  
  
Suzee stared at him hard. "I didn't sleep…. I couldn't sleep… HE is always there…HE is always invading my mind…. Keeping me unconscious to get information out of me…." Suzee said  
  
"Who are you talking about?" Harlan asked.  
  
"Zeek….." Suzee said slowly. "Zeeeeeek……. Zeeeeeee……"   
  
"What are you talking about…." Harlan chided her.  
  
"Zeeeee….. His name is Z....something… It's all I get when he invades my brain…." Suzee said. Tears came to her eyes. "He found out where the others were! I… I couldn't stop him!"  
  
"What are you talking about… the others went into the woods… there's no way these guys will find them there…. Besides… wouldn't the others have gone for help….?"   
  
Suzee's eyes glazed over for a moment. Then, the tears came worse than ever. The way Harlan was sitting, he couldn't move his good arm through the bars. He couldn't give her a pat on the head or the shoulders, so he resigned himself to sit and watch her cry. It was making him uncomfortable.  
  
  
  
"He found them…." She said quietly as she stopped crying. "I don't believe it… he found them…"  
  
Suddenly, she gripped the bars angrily. "Don't let them take them, Harlan… Just don't!" Then, she grabbed his face through the bars and kissed him.  
  
Suddenly, her head swam in a sea of black. The voice was back. He called to her as he dragged her further down. Zanathos would have his plaything once again.  
  
  
  
"I don't like her, Zanathos... she's trouble…" said Treya.  
  
A tall boy with completely black hair and black eyes stared at the screen in front of him. His pale features shone in light of the screen. "She shows promise, dear Treya…."  
  
"No… she shows resistance…. And… she has that exotic boy in her hands…." Said Treya. Her voice broke slightly when she said the last thing.  
  
"You over estimate her, Treya…. She does not have him…. I was the one who forced her to kiss him…. A little reward for her kindness…" Zanathos said.  
  
"The boy wants her …" Treya growled. Then, she licked her lips hungrily. "I will have him, though…."  
  
"You do that, Treya…." Zanathos said in a soft, low voice. She walked out of the room with a cruel smile on her face. Zanathos turned back to the screen.   
  
Suzee was asleep again. He could feel her troubled mind with his. He touched the screen tentatively. "And you will be mine, Suzee…."  
  
  
  
"A little more… and that should do it!" said Tavik. "Just leave it on for a teer and you have it…."  
  
"What's a teer…." Asked Rosie.  
  
"Teer… It's our time measurement…. It's seventy fortens to make one teer….." Tavik stated.  
  
"Sort of like an hour?" asked Radu.  
  
"Hour? What's that?" Tavik asked.  
  
"Never mind…" Freya said.  
  
Radu sat with his hair smothered in some strange yellow gel. His hair was almost flat against his head. It was rather creepy for him to see himself like this.  
  
"Well… from what I can tell… time runs faster here than it does for us….." said Radu as he stared at his reflection. "Maybe an hour to them is like thirty minutes to us…." He said.  
  
"That's good! If this concentrated formula doesn't have you hair straight, then, I don't know what will….." Tavik suddenly said.  
  
"What?!" everyone started.  
  
"I get it… a teer is a minute…. Then what's an hour to you…." Rosie said cheerfully.  
  
"What's an hour…?" asked Tavik as he dunked Radu's head in a bowl of water. Radu protested a bit, but resigned to have the yellow goop out of his hair.  
  
After about two minutes, the yellow goop was out. Radu sat trying to dry his still very curly hair. "Looks like we'll need to grow our own…." said Rosie as she bit her lip.  
  
Suddenly, the alarm for the village sounded off. Tavik ran out of the room, leaving a sleeping Bova, a confused Freya and Rosie, and a drying Radu.  
  
"I wonder what's going on….." said Freya.  
  
Bova made a loud snore. Radu sighed and Rosie wrapped the cloth around his head. "Just leave it there…" she said. Then, she ran out.  
  
  
  
"INTRUDERS! INTRUDERS!"  
  
Commander Goddard heard it like it was being hammered into his skull. Somehow, he had found himself in the outskirts of a small village. There were kids running about.  
  
Miss Davenport snorted. "What are all these children doing about…. Where are the adults!" she hissed.  
  
"Do I look Like I know?" Commander Goddard whispered through gritted teeth.  
  
"Come on…. There's got to be a few adults around here… surly this place can't be run just by these children…." Miss Davenport scoffed. "I mean… these kids can't be more than sixteen!"  
  
"Well, those kids are carrying weapons and blunt objects that look mean… I don't want to get into a quarrel with them….." Commander Goddard said.  
  
"Maybe we can tell them that we come in peace…. That always works in those old movies!" Miss Davenport said.  
  
"And do what?! Are you insane!" Goddard growled.  
  
"I'm beginning to think you don't value my opinion, Seth…."  
  
"Then, you're getting the right signals!" Goddard hissed.  
  
Miss Davenport glared at Goddard. Suddenly, cold metal was on the back of her neck. "Don't move, intruder…." Came a hard voice. It was distinctly female.  
  
Goddard glanced up. It was a girl, alright. She had pale skin and short black and red striped hair. She held a spear at Miss Davenport's throat.  
  
Someone else came over. It was a boy about the same age as the girl. He had green and black striped hair and blue markings around his eyes. "Feera…. What did you find…."  
  
"Giants…. Intruders… whatever they are…." Feera said. "Let's take them back…." 


	8. Let's get them back!

A/N: Well… I just got my first commission! Yay me! I'll have to think of a decent price. I need the cash…. Grr…. I hate money…  
  
I got to see the Two Towers! My favorite scene was Helm's Deep. I especially loved watching the elves fight. I looooove watching the elves fight… they've got such cool weapons!  
  
  
  
Chapter Eight  
  
  
  
  
  
Tavik sat in the high chair of his brother's. Rosie stared at him and gave him a sympathetic look. He wasn't prepared for this.  
  
"Bring them in…." he called to Feera.  
  
Bova, Freya and Radu walked in from behind Rosie. "What's going on?" asked Radu. Rosie noticed that his hair was still curly, but it was quite a bit relaxed and wasn't as fuzzy anymore.  
  
"Someone was trying to invade our forest, Mr. Radu…" said Tavik. "I hope it's some of those Zeeks…."  
  
Rosie bit her lip. "What if it isn't, Tavik….?"  
  
Tavik bowed his head. "We'll just see who they are…."  
  
Feera returned. She brought in two tall people with black bags over their heads. Their hands were tied behind their backs and the taller one had a couple of cuts in his grey jumpsuit. The smaller one had twigs in their jumpsuit.  
  
They stood in front of the makeshift throne where Tavik sat. Feera kicked them down to their knees. "Kneel before our chief, infidels!"  
  
"We're people, not punching bags!" growled the taller one.  
  
"Take their masks off, please, Feera…." Said Tavik. He sounded somewhat regal.  
  
Feera threw off the masks on the two people. Rosie gasped. Bova nearly choked. Freya stared oddly at them. Radu was the only one to say anything.  
  
"Commander Goddard! Miss Davenport!" Radu shouted in a startled fashion. "What are you two doing out here?!"  
  
"Radu! Rosie! Bova! Freya!" coughed Commander Goddard. "What are you four doing out here?!"  
  
Feera hit Commander Goddard on the back on his head with her pole arm. "SHUT UP!"  
  
"Feera…. Don't hurt them…" Tavik said calmly. He turned to Rosie and smiled. "You know these two?"  
  
"Yes…. That one… is Commander Goddard and the woman is Miss Davenport, our teacher…." She said.  
  
"What are these people…. They look old!" growled Feera.  
  
"I beg your pardon! I am not THAT old!" screeched Miss Davenport indignantly.  
  
"You are by their standards, Miss Davenport…." Drawled Bova.  
  
Commander Goddard took over as calmly as he could. "Please release us… we only came out here to look for the children…."  
  
"Indeed you have found them…." Said Tavik. He stood up and snapped his fingers. Feera reluctantly obeyed.  
  
She drew her knife and cut the ropes of their bonds. Commander Goddard took Miss Davenport by her shoulders and held her away from Feera. "Excuse us…." He made his way toward the throne and was stopped by Tavik.   
  
"I have not given you permission to come closer, strangers…" Tavik said in a warning voice.  
  
"Tavik… we know them!" Rosie declared. "Please! We need to speak with them!"  
  
Tavik looked as though he was having a very vicious internal struggle. Then, he calmly sat down in the chair. Commander Goddard and Miss Davenport walked forward.  
  
"Does anyone mind telling us what the hell is going on…!" hissed Miss Davenport.  
  
"Ma'am… Commander…. These people are the Tirateem… They're one a few tribes on this planet." Rosie said.  
  
"The worst of which are the Zeeks. They attacked last night…" said Radu.  
  
"They killed these people's other chief… Tavik's brother…." Said Freya as she pointed to Tavik.  
  
"So that's who was running through the woods…." Said Commander Goddard. "We came out here last night and I heard things moving around. I heard a battle going on…."  
  
"Those were the Zeeks…." Said Tavik. "They want to destroy or enslave the other tribes. They are the keepers of machines… we are the keepers of the forest….. The Sertina are the keepers of the sands…. And the Lokalit are the keepers of the ocean."  
  
Commander Goddard turned to the four in front of him. "I only see you four… where are Suzee and Harlan…?"  
  
"Harlan and Suzee went into the city…" said Radu.  
  
"Which means they will have been captured by the Zeeks…." Said Tavik. "We'll have to go find them…"  
  
"And how do you propose that, Tavik…." Said someone next to Tavik.  
  
"Coward! Would you just sit here and let a friend be tortured because it was hard to get him back! Pathetic!" Feera sneered at the boy who spoke. "Tavik… what do you suggest… I will be behind you!"  
  
Tavik put a finger to his lips. He thought for a minute as to what to do. Then, he spoke. "We shall go…"  
  
  
  
Zanathos sat in his chair in his visual room. The various screens all had one subject on them. Suzee slept on each screen.  
  
The image of her was like a dream. Her fine features, her almost black eyebrows, and her hair, how it was striped with not one color, but two. She was fascinating.  
  
She even had psychic abilities. It was a rare thing on his world to have such a trait. He and a rare few had this trait. He had even built a device that would lure those with the ability to his planet.  
  
She came with others, though. None of them with the ability. Especially this boy. Zanathos punched the screen that showed Harlan on it. He too was sleeping peacefully.  
  
The screen shattered and the shards cut Zanathos' hand. His blood ran blue. He was unlike the rest of his kind. He didn't have the striped hair or their blood color. He had blue blood, where they all had red.  
  
He wondered what Suzee was dreaming. He stepped into her mind. She was dreaming of being on a ship called the Christa. He saw the boy, Harlan, making remarks about how she ran the engine room.  
  
She saw a girl with red skin. She had no hair. She was much younger. She smiled a lot in this dream as well.  
  
There was another boy. He had short black hair, tanned skin and a large symbol on his forehead. He was sleeping.  
  
There was another boy in the dream. He had large swirls where his ears should be. He also had long, very curly hair.   
  
Then, Zanathos came out of her dream. He would not wake her yet. He would let her have a rest from him.  
  
  
  
Feera led Commander Goddard to a secluded area. The bush hid them from the sight of the Zeek guards. She motioned to Radu and Freya to up. "What now?" asked Freya.  
  
"We have to get past those guards there… They have those laser guns, so be careful…." Feera said.  
  
"Lasers? Piece of cake… they can't hurt me…." Freya said gleefully, then, she stood up.  
  
She walked closer to the two guards outside the main entrance. "What the hell is she doing!? She'll get herself killed!" Feera grunted. She was about to get up, when Goddard shoved her back down with a hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Watch…."  
  
Freya walked up to the guards. "Hello, guys… I'm kinda new around here, so.. could you show me around?"  
  
The two boys stared at her. Then, they brought up their weapons. "Who are you….."  
  
"No one special…" She said with a smile. Her eyes went red for a second. It was too fast for the two guards to catch.  
  
"Aw… you aren't much older than me…. how sweet.. how about we go to the local chocolate shop and have a nice shake?" she said sweetly to one of them.  
  
She came closer to the one on her right. Too close, actually. She caressed a hand against the boy's cheek. He had black hair and yellow stripes in it. "I'm sure you won't mind…"  
  
"That's close enough…." The boy said. His gun was pressed firmly against her stomach.  
  
Feera cursed. "She's gonna get killed!"  
  
"Just watch…. From what I have observed of her… she has picked up quite a lot about how to control some of her abilities." Said Goddard. "Amongst other things…." He added as a side note.  
  
Freya gave the boy a smile. "Now.. that's not nice…." She turned that section of her body into water and stepped closer as the barrel protruded out from her back. The boys were no less surprised.  
  
The other boy shot at her. Her entire body became liquid. She only had her form left. She hardened her foot and kicked the other boy on the jaw.  
  
Then, she detached herself from the boy in front of her. "Neat-o trick, huh?" She said cheerfully as she hardened the rest of her. "Nighty-night!" She kicked the boy in front of her. He fell to the ground in a heap.  
  
Freya jumped up and down gleefully. "YAY! I did it!" Then, a second later, she jerked suddenly. "Wow… where am I…"  
  
Goddard hit himself on the forehead. Radu was in a similar state. Feera turned to him. "Is she always like this…"  
  
"Yeah, yeah… we know…" said Goddard. "Unfortunately."  
  
  
  
Zanathos sat. He felt the mind of Suzee become awake. He wanted her to stay asleep. He drove into her mind. He drove through her defenses.  
  
She stirred, her mouth open, crying for help. He heard her even without the microphones in the room. Harlan would wake soon. He would try to comfort the girl, but it would fail. She was his and that was that.  
  
Suddenly, the alarm sounded off. He was snapped out of her mind like a rubber band. He dizzily looked at the screens as he tried to regain his mind.  
  
He saw on the screen, four people were running into the prison. One was the boy with the curls, his hair was much shorter and the curls were smoother.  
  
There was a girl with short black and red hair. One of the Tirateem, he guessed. There was a tall man with graying, short cropped hair. "An adult? How did he get here…!" cried Zanathos.  
  
That was when he noticed the fourth one. If the adult was dangerous, so was this one. Dangerous for HIM. It was a girl that looked to be a bit younger than Suzee. She had long, wispy green hair, and she had a strange brain signature.  
  
Then, it hit him. "An EMPATH! ARRGH!" he cried in his rage. "She'll ruin everything!"  
  
  
  
"Looks like these are computerized locks…" said Commander Goddard. Then, he shot them with the gun he got off of one of the guards. "Not anymore…."  
  
"Suzee!" said Radu. He looked in the other cell to see Harlan already stirring. "Harlan!"  
  
He ran in and helped Harlan to his feet. "What happened…."  
  
Harlan coughed. "Long story, pal… let's just get Suzee out of here before that Treya chick comes in here… she'll make minced meat out of all of us…"  
  
Freya ran into the cell with Suzee lying on the floor. "Time to wake up, Suzee…" she beamed. Then, she picked Suzee up and carried her over to Feera and Commander Goddard.  
  
"Radu, just pick him up, we need to get out of here!" Commander Goddard barked.  
  
Radu looked at Harlan sighed. "Easy up!" Harlan was now riding much like Suzee was. Then, they carried them out.  
  
  
  
"TREYA! GET THEM BACK! HURRY!" barked Zanathos.  
  
Treya's earpiece was sounding off and hurting her ears. "Got it, sir!" she said as she winced from the pain.  
  
  
  
Feera led them out. Unfortunately, Treya knew where they were. Shots fired through the air as the foursome ran across the open ground toward the forest.  
  
"Hurry! We can lose them in the forest!" shouted Feera.  
  
Treya wasn't about to give up so easily. She ran after them, firing her gun along the way. "GIVE UP NOW!" she cried.  
  
The foursome, now with two more being carried, ran as fast as they could. Radu was having some difficulty running with Harlan in his arms. Harlan was bigger than he was.  
  
"Hurry! Hurry!" cried Feera.  
  
The forest was within a few meters of them. They would be in it before Treya could catch up with them. Unfortunately, Treya knew the forest as well. She had been a Tirateem when she was a child.  
  
They ran into the brush and the trees. "Hurry!" was all that Feera could say at the moment. She wasn't really used to running, but she saw no other alternative.  
  
They ran through the various bushes and leaves that scattered everywhere as they trumped through. Treya was hot on their tail. "If only we had something that could stop her…." Gasped Commander Goddard.  
  
"She's going to come after us, no matter where she is… what needs to happen is to… have her brain reorganized! Only a reader can do something like that and we don't…. have any!" Feera gasped out.  
  
Freya suddenly tripped on something. Suzee fell on the ground unconscious, next to Freya whose brain was starting blink out again.  
  
Treya saw one of them fall. She smiled. At least she could bring two more back.  
  
Freya stood up. She brushed herself off. Then, she turned. "What hell is going on?" she said as she saw Treya coming. Treya came closer, her weapon poised ready.   
  
Radu noticed that Freya wasn't behind him. He looked back and saw Freya standing in front of Treya. Treya was walking closer to her with her gun raised.  
  
Then, Treya suddenly put down her weapon and walked away. "Hold on! Freya and Suzee are behind us…" Radu said.  
  
Commander Goddard stopped and turned. He saw Freya standing in front of an unconscious Suzee. "What the hell?"  
  
They walked back and noticed that Treya had disappeared. Radu saw Freya wandering around aimlessly. He saw the blank expression in her eyes and walked up to her. Then, he hit her on the back of her head. A second later, she yelped and then rubbed the back of her head. "Owie… that hurt, Radu…"  
  
"Let's get back to the tribe…" said Feera. 


	9. Attack! The Sequel!

A/N: I'm siting here, eating a small bowl of sweet and sour rice with lots of soy sauce on it…. And I'm trying to listen to Rush Limbaugh and write this at the same time… is there something severely wrong with me that I multi task like this…? Not really… I'm doing it, aren't I?  
  
So how do you like the story so far….?  
Chapter Nine  
"TREYA! YOU FOOL!" growled Zanathos. He slapped her across her face and she sailed across the room. Dark red blood stained her lips. "You had the one I needed in your grasp and you walked away!"  
  
Treya was frightened. She cowered in a corner to get away from Zanathos. "I… I couldn't help myself… I just thought I should walk away." Her voice quivered as she spoke.  
  
It hit Zanathos, then. He calmed himself down as he walked away from Treya. The green haired girl had pulled the one trick that he knew an empath could do.  
  
"Treya—go clean yourself up, eat, and assemble a team—we're going to destroy the strangers before they can help the Tirateem," Zanathos said.  
  
Treya stood up, bowed, and then walked out.  
"What did you do, Freya… she just put her weapon down and walked away!" said Commander Goddard.  
  
"What are you talking about? I don't know what's going on. One minute, my brain blinks out and the next Radu claps me on my head." Freya said.  
  
"Where's Suzee and Harlan?" asked Rosie.  
  
"They were taken by Tavik and Miss Davenport back to the Christa. Harlan needs to be put into the sickbay repair pod for a while," said Commander Goddard.  
  
"We had better get ready—the Zeeks will come back for retribution." barked Feera.  
  
"Feera—what did you mean when you said that that girl would follow us no matter what—that she knew the forest," asked Radu.  
  
Feera sighed. "Treya… is my sister. She was once a Tirateem instead of a Zeek. She was taken to the Zeeks and there she stayed when she was very young."  
  
"So, she knows the forest. Damn it—this isn't the way to win a battle…" groaned Commander Goddard.  
  
  
  
Suzee woke up. She was in the sickbay. She saw THELMA attending to someone in the restoration pod. THELMA moved over and Suzee saw Harlan lying in the pod.  
  
"THELMA?" Suzee croaked as she sat up.   
  
THELMA walked over and smiled that blank smile she always wore. "Yes, Miss Suzee?"  
  
"What am I doing here?" Suzee asked.  
  
"The Tirateem people helped Miss Davenport bring you and Harlan to the Christa…." THELMA said.  
  
"What about the others? Where are they?" she asked. THELMA gave her a blank stare. Suzee sighed. "Rosie… Radu… Bova..?"  
  
"They are with the Tirateem…." THELMA said. "Helping them prepare for battle…."  
  
Suzee nearly fell off of the bed she was on. "WHAT?!"  
  
"They said to keep you and Harlan here until they contact us." THELMA said.  
  
Suzee felt like banging her head on a bulkhead. "They can't be serious." she groaned. "That Zanathos alone is enough to deal with."  
  
"What is wrong, Suzee?" THELMA asked her.  
  
"I was the key to all of this mess." Suzee groaned. "The leader of the Zeeks used a… telepathic device… something that transmits a message directly into a person's brain by using a telepathic range. It's too weird."  
  
"The only problem I can't figure out is… he completely freaked out when he noticed Freya, but she wasn't affected by the device like I was. I wonder why." Suzee said to herself. "She is telepathic…"  
  
"Freya is not telepathic—anymore—that function was shut down when her implant was shorted out." THELMA said. "She is empathic."  
  
"Meaning that she can read emotions, right? But why did he go nuts when he noticed Freya coming….. I felt him in my mind when I was asleep… then I noticed that Freya and Radu, and someone else… and Commander Goddard had showed up… He went nuts and snapped out of my brain…" Suzee said.  
  
Suddenly, the computer sounded off. "Incoming message…." The computer said.  
  
"Relay," Suzee commanded.  
  
Commander Goddard came onto the screen. "Suzee! Are you alright?"  
  
"I'm fine, Commander—what do you need?" asked Suzee.  
  
"If you are up to it—could you come out here and help us?"  
  
Suzee considered it. She didn't want to be captured again, and she knew Zanathos would want her back. She also wanted to help them, for she was fine now. She still felt like her head had been detached from her body, then thrown against a wall for an hour, and then put back on her body.  
  
"I'll be out there," she finally said. "Where should I go?"  
  
"Go to the forest. Feera will help you get here," Commander Goddard said. "There's a rumor that the Zeeks are coming here."  
  
When Suzee finally got outside, she headed straight for the forest. When she reached the edge of it, she immediately pulled inside by someone. It was a girl with short, black and red striped hair. "Shh—my name is Feera."  
  
"Where do we go from here?" Suzee whispered.  
  
"To the camp."  
  
Feera led Suzee through under brush and she saw a small group of people walk past. They wore metal masks on half of their faces. "The Zeeks!" Suzee hissed. Feera clamped a hand over Suzee's mouth.  
  
Suzee trembled. She saw the weapons they were carrying. They were modified laser cutters and pistols. They didn't completely burn anything while cutting through something. She had seen the blueprints of them inside the mind of Zanathos. She also saw something more whenever he came into her mind.   
  
Just then, Feera grabbed Suzee's hand they were bolting toward a large rock. She followed Feera up the rock, scrambling just to keep up with the girl, and found herself staring over the edge of into the village below.  
  
"We have to get down there and arm ourselves and the others," Feera said.  
  
"Any ideas?"  
  
Feera flashed Suzee a smile. "Only one." Then, she grabbed Suzee's arm and Suzee fell over the edge of the rock.  
Freya walked out of the hut that was assigned to her and Rosie. One of the Tirateem had seen fit to make her and Rosie look more like the rest of the tribe while she was getting dressed. Now, her hair was shorter, just above her shoulders, and put into a complicated hair "do" with violet and blue feathers coming out of it and beads put into her hair.   
  
Rosie didn't get out of it either. She had several markings on her head that seemed almost surreal to look at. Rosie had protested some due to her not wanting to burn anyone or anything, but in the end she gave up and no she looked like she was one of the tribe.  
  
Even the boys were having things done to them. Bova was decorated with beads in his hair, making him look odd with his deadpan expression and the giant V antenna protruding from his forehead. Radu's now shortened curls were decorated with feathers and small shiny metal objects. He now resembled something more closely related to a Christmas tree than an Andromedan, much to his dismay.  
  
"I feel so weird," Radu said as he and Bova walked up to the two girls. "M-My hair and all of these weird little trinkets—it just feels weird to be this decorated."  
  
"I know what you mean," Rosie said, "Though, right now, I think I like it."  
  
"You would," Bova snorted. "They forced me into a chair and tugged on my hair for ten minutes trying to get these stupid beads on my head."  
  
Suddenly, they heard the screaming. They glanced to the large rock wall that was on the west side of the village. Two people jumped off of it and fell into a heap of grass. It was Suzee and Feera.  
  
They ran over to see if they were all right. Feera was on her feet in an instant. "The Zeeks! The Zeeks are coiming!"  
  
Just then, there was a blood-curdling scream from the other side of the village. Radu was running before he even realized it. He just needed to get over there to help.  
  
Suzee watched Radu take off. She suddenly saw Commander Goddard run out of a hut with three Tirateem running after him. She would have thought it was amusing if she wasn't scared out of her wits.  
  
Commander Goddard grabbed a spear and rammed the end of it into one of the Zeeks attacking one of the little Tirateem girls. The Zeek fell to the ground and the little girl ran away.  
  
Suddenly, he was hit in the back by a laser pistol. His singed skin hurt as he regained his balance using the spear as support. He snapped around and lashed out his foot into the offending Zeek. They went down as his foot connected with their jaw.  
  
Radu punched one Zeek on the jaw and thrust his elbow at another. With his strength, he could deliver power blows to these people. He ducked just as a laser blast shot out where his head had been.  
  
He glanced over and saw Treya in her face mask and a malicious grin on her face. She took aim at him again and he jumped away as the ground where had been exploded.  
  
Freya ran, grabbing a spear on her way and thrusting it at one Zeeks head. It broke his nose, causing the dark red blood to explode from his face. She spun around and whipped the pole-arm as she did so. It slashed another Zeek across the stomach, blood running over his body as he fell to the ground in pain.  
  
Feera took up a pole-arm as well, joining Freya in the fight. When she had fought her way over to Freya, she stood to Freya's back. "I was wrong about you and your comrades. You fight like trained warriors."  
  
"I'm not the one you should be congratulating. Talk to Commander Goddard—He's the one that trains these people." Then, Freya jammed the spear into another Zeek.  
  
Suzee felt it. She heard the voice calling to her mind once again. She concentrated on trying to drown it out. She needed to get over to her friends. She needed to help.  
  
Rosie was thrown onto the ground just as an explosion behind her occurred. She lifted her head to find Bova holding her down, burn marks on his shoulder.   
  
Then, she saw it. She grabbed Bova and rolled to her right. The ground exploded, making dirt and rock fly everywhere. She stood up, pulling Bova to his feet and ran.  
  
She saw Tavik coming out of his hut with a few guards around him. "TAVIK, RUN!"  
  
Tavik turned and was thrown by one of the guards just as the ground exploded. Rosie ran over to them with Bova close behind her.  
  
"Tavik! Tavik! Are you all right?" Rosie cried as she got closer.  
  
Tavik sat up. Then, he smiled at Rosie. "Yeah, I'm all right." He glanced down and found his guard bleeding from burn wounds. "But it doesn't look like he is."  
  
Radu jumped again as another blast from Treya's gun erupted the ground. He needed to get over to her and get the gun away from her somehow. He was having trouble thinking of what to do. He never could think straight in crisis situations.  
  
Treya shot at him again. This time, He was thrown onto the ground as the blast hit his shoulder. Pain surged through his body as he hit the ground with a loud THUD.  
  
Treya climbed down from the tree she had been perched in. Then, she walked past the people fighting. She shot a Tirateem in the chest with her pistol, letting his aggressor go and falling to the ground in a heap.  
  
She walked toward Radu with that malicious grin on her face. She pointed the gun at Radu's head. Her finger was poised on the trigger. Suddenly, she was thrown with great force away from him.  
  
Commander Goddard grunted as he tossed Treya away from Radu. He nodded to Radu before returning to an angry Zeek. He whipped the spear around and clapped the Zeek on the head.  
Miss Davenport studied Harlan's face through the clear spot on the hibernation tube. He looked like he had been beaten within an inch of his life. He pretty much had by the sounds of what was in the report THELMA had made on his injuries.  
  
"Internal bleeding, broken ribs, broken arm, broken leg, pierced lung," she read off his injuries aloud. "Oh Mr. Band, don't you ever quit?"  
  
Suddenly, the console on the wall sounded off. "Incoming meassage."  
  
Miss Davenport walked over and tapped a button of the console. "Relay."  
  
Suddenly, an image of one of the Tirateem boys came onto the screen. Rosie came up next to him. "Rosie, what's going on?"  
  
"We're under attack. We need help." Rosie said quickly.  
  
"What do you expect me to do? I don't know how to fight and Mr. Band is certainly in no shape to help." Miss Davenport said in shock.  
  
"I don't know. Commander Goddard, Radu, Freya—They're all in the fight." Suddenly, Rosie looked around and seemed to realize something. "Where is Suzee?"  
  
"You mean she isn't with you?" Miss Davenport said quickly.  
  
"She was, but I don't know where she is." Rosie said.  
  
Miss Davenport chewed on her bottom lip. She was trying to think of something that might help, but her mind was a blank.  
  
"Hold on! I think I—"  
  
The picture of Rosie and the boy disappeared and was replaced by the face of a very pale boy with black eyes and pitch black hair. The boy grinned at Miss Davenport maliciously. "Who are you?" Miss Davenport said indignantly. "You just ruined a perfectly good conversation!"  
  
"I want what's mine, Miss Davenport. Bring Suzee and the empath to me, or else I'll destroy that puny little ship of yours." The boy grinned at her evilly. Miss Davenport felt as though ice had been dropped down her spine.  
  
"Who are you—what are you talking about!"   
  
"Do it."   
  
Then, the screen went blank. 


	10. Planning

A/N: I'm getting back into Space Cases mode! ^.^ Be proud of me!  
  
I am now on the Pumpkin Pie forum armed with my logic and good sense. Beware, H/Hrs, beware! I'm an H/Ger and R/Hr and I have proof that will knock your SOX off!  
Chapter Ten  
The battle went on. By the time the Zeeks were leaving, most of the village was destroyed. Freya collapsed next to Radu on the blood covered ground. He had burn wounds on his arms and shoulders. She looked almost as bad.  
  
Commander Goddard limped over to them and sat down on the stone next to Radu. "How… on EARTH… did we end up in this in the first place?"  
  
"Are you asking ME this question?" Radu gasped out.  
  
"Not really. I was just trying to see if I was still alive by annoying you." Commander Goddard grumbled.  
  
Feera trotted over and gave them a bowl. "Water. You will need it." she grunted.  
  
Freya took it and handed it to Commander Goddard. He took it and drank heavily from the bowl. Then, he handed it to Radu, who drank just as heavily from it. Then, the bowl was handed back to Freya, who drank the last of it before handing it back to Feera.  
  
"Good. Now, we must rest a while before we can retaliate." Feera then walked off.  
  
"We're volunteering again?" asked Radu.  
  
"Looks like it." Commander Goddard grunted.  
Rosie and Bova moved large piece of wood from a caved in part of a hut. There was a small girl curled up underneath it, as if it was shelter. "Come on out, they're gone." Rosie said cheerfully.  
  
The little girl nodded her pink and black haired head and jumped out of the area as though it were about to bite her. Then, Rosie motioned for Bova to another section of fallen house. They lifted the section of wood and found Suzee.  
  
She had her hands clamped over her ears and she was rocking back and forth as though she was trying to shut something out. "Suzee? Suzee, are you all right?"  
  
Suzee suddenly jerked her head up. She gazed at Rosie and Bova as though she had never seen anything quite like them before. Suddenly, recognition came back to her. "R-Rosie? Bova?"  
  
Rosie nodded and smiled at Suzee. "Are you all right?"  
  
Suzee leapt from her spot almost instantaneously. She was five feet from them when they turned around to talk to her. "We need help." Suzee said.  
  
"The Tirateem need help." Bova drawled. "We need to find a way out of all of this."  
  
"They need us, Bova. We can't just leave them to be destroyed by those Zeeks!" Rosie gasped.  
  
Bova grumbled his response, but stayed silent. Suzee could still feel Zanathos' brain inside hers. She tried desperately to suppress it. It was working.  
  
  
  
Harlan opened his eyes and gazed around him. He was in the hibernation chamber, but it was open. He figured that was why he was awake. He sat up and felt a minor pang of pain in his side. His face didn't feel like it was twice its size and his arms and legs moved freely.  
  
"THELMA, are you there?" he croaked. He hadn't used his voice for a while. It felt scratchy as he breathed.  
  
"T-THELMA?"  
  
"Is something wrong, Mr. Band?"  
  
Harlan fell out of the hibernation chamber onto his rear. He saw THELMA in front of him holding out her hand to him. He took it and was instantly on his feet. "THELMA, what's going on? Why am I here?"  
  
"You and your friends came onto the Christa when you were very curious school children, then your teachers came on board looking for you. Then, we introduced each other and became—"  
  
"THELMA, I meant about now. Why am I here now?"   
  
THELMA smiled her vague smile. "Miss Davenport and the Tirateem people brought you and Suzee on board to recover. Suzee was called out by Commander Goddard and you have woken up."  
  
"I gathered that," Harlan said quickly. Then, he realized what she said. "Suzee's back out there? Tirateem? Was that the tribe that helped rescue us from the Zeeks?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Where's Miss Davenport?" Harlan said as he glanced around again.  
  
"She has just received a message from a Mr. Zanathos and she is now trying to formulate an appropriate answer in the classroom." THELMA suddenly jerked her head in a very robotic manner for Harlan to follow.  
  
They walked to the nearest jump tube and Harlan jumped in. He came out on the right floor and walked to the classroom. When he walked in, he glanced around for Miss Davenport. "Miss Davenport? Are you here?"  
  
He heard nothing. He walked further in and glanced around. The consoles on the walls were all showing diagnostics and one was showing static. "Miss Davenport?"  
  
Suddenly, he heard a frightened sob from underneath the desk. He leaned over it and found Miss Davenport curled up underneath the desk. "Formulating an appropriate answer, eh?" Harlan grinned at her.  
  
"Not that it's any of your business, Harlan, but what are you doing here." Miss Davenport said in an irritated sort of voice. She crawled out from underneath the desk and stood up stiffly.  
  
"The chamber was opened, and so I came out." Harlan said. "What is going on?"  
  
"Some boy showed up on the computer console in the infirmary and informed me that he was going to destroy the ship. Then, he came on that", she pointed to the console showing static, "console that he was going to destroy everything because I wouldn't give him an answer!"  
  
"Okay," Harlan said slowly. "So what are we going to do?"  
  
"Don't ask me! I haven't the faintest idea!" She growled at him indignantly and walked back to her desk and sat down.   
  
Harlan growled impatiently and glanced around the room to the console screen that still showed static. Then, it struck him. "What did he ask you?"  
  
Miss Davenport flipped her hand in an impatient manner. "I don't know—Something about Suzee and an empath! Honestly, what on Earth is an empath—As though I would give him Suzee, anyway."  
  
"Wait a minute, he wanted Suzee?"  
  
"Y-yes," Miss Davenport stammered as she gazed at Harlan uncertainly. "Why?"  
  
"When I was caged up next to Suzee, she kept mumbling things about a person named Zanathos. When she woke up once, she started saying that it was all her fault that we were all here—that this Zanathos wanted her." Harlan was worried. He masked his worry, quickly, with a look of pure concentration. "I think the one you saw was Zana—"  
  
"Incoming message," the computer suddenly spoke. The screen with the static went black suddenly as Harlan whipped around.  
  
Nothing was coming up. Harlan realized who it might be trying to contact the ship. "Relay message."  
  
The screen suddenly showed a tired and bruised Commander Goddard. Someone next to him, who had short black and blue striped hair, was bandaging his arm. "Mr. Band, you're awake! Good. I need you to help us with a small problem that I'm sure you are familiar with."  
  
"Zanathos and those Zeeks, right?" Harlan asked.  
  
"Yeah—unfortunately, he ambushed us with more of his army and now we need reinforcements. What I need you to do is find a way to contact the other tribes and convince them to come here."  
  
"Oh yeah—the easiest thing in the world except for one small detail—where are these tribes and how friendly are they with the—Tirateem was it?" Harlan blew air impatiently between his lips.  
  
"Tirateem, yes. Their leader, Tavik, told me that they would stand with them if they were going against the Zeeks and their threshold." Commander Goddard suddenly winced at the bandaging on his arm.  
  
"Erm—I'm a pilot, Commander, not a communications officer." Harlan said.  
  
"You're neither, Mr. Band. You can move the crystals, I can't. Do what you can—I'll ask Tavik if the other tribes have the ability to get the signal. Commander Goddard out." Then, the screen went black.  
  
  
  
Commander Goddard punched the compupad off and winced as another stab pain went through his arm. "OUCH!" he hissed at the girl working on his arm.  
  
"Commander, if the Tirateem don't have the ability to send signals with electronic machines, how in the world are the other tribes going to receive anything?" asked Bova.  
  
"I'm working on that, I'm working on that!" Commander Goddard growled.  
  
"The Sertina have technology left over from the days BEFORE the great plague almost killed everyone. The Lokalit, however, don't. They have been isolated so long, I wonder where they are." It was Tavik coming over. "Your attempts are good ones, but getting the Lokalit and the Sertina together over here is another problem altogether."  
  
"The Lokalit are the people of the ocean. As I recall, there aren't any oceans near us," said Rosie.  
  
"And the Sertina live in a desert. Does anyone else see the big hole in this?" Bova drawled.  
  
Commander Goddard scowled at Bova. "Yes, thank you, Bova, for that wonderful insight, but we still need to have a plan and this is as good as we can come up with."  
  
"We're doomed," said Bova.  
Zanathos sat in the console room, the many monitors blinking various images at him. He was watching the images that he had managed to get from Suzee's mind. He was manipulating them, causing the images to distort with his mind.  
  
He heard the door open to the room. Treya walked in uncertainly. He smiled. He had managed to frighten her enough so that she was shaking as she spoke to him. "Zanathos—we raided the village and they fought back against us. They have lost many, but they will come after us. We have to come up with a new plan."  
  
Zanathos jumped out of his chair and was on Treya in a second. His hand closed around her throat tightly and he banged her head against the wall as he pushed her up against it. "Who—who did you say will have to come up with a plan?" He smiled cruelly at her as a trickle of dark red blood fell out of the corner of her mouth.  
  
"Y-you, sir," she managed to stutter breathlessly.  
  
"Good." He let go of her and she slid down the wall to her knees, gasping for air.   
  
"But, sir, we—cough—we need to find a—cough—way to counter them—cough—when the tribe comes after us!"  
  
Zanathos stood silently. His form was now nothing but a lean shadow against the light of the monitors. "I shall think of something suitable. Tell the troops to be ready for an onslaught." His voice was deathly calm as he spoke.  
  
Treya was petrified now. A shudder went down her spine at the chilly voice speaking to her. "Y-Y-Yes sir…" Then, she scrambled to her feet and walked out quickly.  
  
Zanathos stood staring into the monitors. The image of Suzee's face showed on the one directly in front of him. He brought one long, bony finger to the screen and caressed it, the image suddenly bending as though the computer couldn't keep the image. He smiled slowly at it.  
Freya sat at the edge of the lake that wasn't far from the village. She stared at it hard as though something might jump out of it at any moment. It was the same lake that she and Radu had gone to when they first came to the land. It was where she had seen the Zeek badge.  
  
Suzee came up behind and sat down beside her, drawing her knees to her chest. Suzee watched Freya stare into the lake. "The Zeeks will be waiting for us to attack." Suzee said.  
  
"Nothing like a good desperate battle for fun." Freya's voice was lower than normal. She didn't even look at Suzee.  
  
"What do you supposed we should do? We can't leave these people to be slaughtered by those Zeeks." Suzee said. She stared into the lake as well; wondering how far down it went.  
  
"As if I knew—honestly you need to be asking Commander Goddard that question."  
  
Suzee stared at the lake. She was feeling something strange from it. She opened her mind to feel more. "Freya—you have gills for breathing under water, right?"  
  
Freya turned her head and stared incredulously at Suzee. "Yeah—what about it?"  
  
"Could you go under the water and tell me what you find down there?"  
  
Freya wondered where Suzee was going with this. She sighed and stood up. "Sure. I'll go."  
  
Then, she took off the jumpsuit, took down her now shorter hair and jumped into the water. It took a few seconds for her breathing to switch and then she could breathe in the water.   
  
She swam through the water to the bottom of the lake, odd looking seaweed waving in the water. She heard the water fall near her and knew she was getting close to the other side of it.  
  
Suddenly, she heard Suzee's voice in her head. "Go further in."  
  
Freya suddenly realized what she was talking about. She swam further on and found the bottom drop a lot more. She swam down and found what she was suspecting.  
  
She swam back as quickly as she could. When she surfaced, she waited a couple of seconds until her breathing switched and then jumped out of the water. "Interesting idea, you have, Suzee."  
  
"I certainly thought so." Suzee grinned.  
  
"Thought what?"  
  
Suzee suddenly saw that Freya was playing with a strand of her hair and she had the now very familiar blank expression on her face. Suzee hit her forehead with her hand. "You've got to be kidding!" she growled to know one.  
  
"Kidding?" Freya asked inquisitively.  
  
"Nevermind—just get dressed and well go back to the village." Suzee said.  
  
"Oh! You mean that nice place with all the happy people dancing around?" Freya giggled.  
  
Suzee fell on her rear at the statement. This was going to take a while. 


	11. The Sertina and the Lokalit

A/N: Hey! I'm glad ya'll like this stuff! I hope no one is getting too OOC in this. It's been so long since I watched the show. ::whimpers::  
  
I'm thinking of doing a Space Cases website, but I can't come up with a name for it yet. It'll feature my SC artwork and writing, as well as I can get it on there, tripod hates me, honestly.  
  
Also… what are your favorite ships so far in this story? Which characters would YOU like to see together?  
Chapter Eleven  
Radu clapped Freya on the back of her head. "OW!"  
  
"Well, now that she's back to normal, what were you proposing, Suzee." Commander Goddard said.  
  
"That we contact both of the other tribes and get help like you suggested."  
  
Commander Goddard stared at her incredulously. Bova just drawled, "We're doomed."  
  
"I thought we already established that plan as a no go." Radu said.  
  
"We've found something very interesting. If it goes where I think it does, we'll be able to get the Lokalit to come with us." Freya said.  
  
"But they live near the ocean, where are we going to find an ocean in the middle of a forest?" Bova said.  
  
"With a tunnel," Freya winked. "Unfortunately, I'll be the only one able to do that task." Then, she pulled down the collar from her neck and pointed to her gill slits.  
  
"But you haven't been in that tunnel yet, right? How do you know where it leads? How are you going to get the Lokalit through it if you even succeed in rallying them?" Commander Goddard said quickly. "You have no idea how long that tunnel is! Even if YOU can get through, there's no way the Lokalit can get through."  
  
"Well, we still have SOME time, maybe I should go in now and see where it goes." Freya said.  
  
"It goes to the Lokalit."  
  
Everyone turned to see Feera and Tavik standing before them. Feera stepped forward and stared hard at everyone with those eyes of hers. "It's on the old maps of our people. It was created long ago before the Lokalit decided to cut themselves off from everyone."  
  
"Which means the Zeeks won't know about it, right?" Commander Goddard said.  
  
"True."  
  
"We've got a plan, people. Let's start moving." Commander Goddard took out the compupad and Suzee and Freya walked out.  
  
  
  
Harlan heard the computer page him. "Incoming meassage."  
  
"Relay."  
  
Commander Goddard showed up on the view screen. "Mr. Band, we're going to go through with the plan. I've got the signal number for the Sertina. Tavik assures me that they can get here quickly from where they are. Freya is going to go look for the Lokalit."  
  
"I'm transferring the signal number to you." Commander Goddard's face was then replaced by a long number.   
  
"Got it, Commander—I'll do my best as a goodwill ambassador." Harlan said with a grin.  
  
"Just get the Sertina to come." Commander Goddard sighed heavily. "Goddard out." Then, the screen went blank.  
  
"THELMA?" Harlan said.  
  
THELMA appeared at his side. "Yes, Harlan."  
  
"Use the signal number to contact the Sertina tribe. Tell me when you get a hold of them." Harlan said.  
  
"Can do!" Then, she stood rod straight and stared into space. She opened to mouth, but nothing came out. Suddenly, she jerked. "Signal going through. Sertina will be with you in a moment. Please hold." Suddenly music came out of her mouth and she started doing a sort of jig.  
  
"Oy," said Harlan as she slumped against the command console.   
"Okay, I want you to go through the tunnel and get as many people as you can to get over here," said Commander Goddard.  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
Freya stripped off her jumpsuit and decided that this time she ought to keep her hair up. She didn't want to get caught on anything that might be in the tunnel.   
  
Feera came up to Freya and put a bright, silver looking torque around her neck. It had a strange pendent on it that looked like sickle moon with a circle balanced in the center of it. "It will bring you luck, Freya Zeetsil—trust me."  
  
Freya didn't understand, but she didn't question. She nodded to them and jumped into the water, giving herself a few second for her breathing to switch. Then, she swam fast to the tunnel.  
  
It was dark inside as she stopped and stared into it. Then, she started swimming into it.  
  
Commander Goddard started back for the village. He took out the compupad and hailed the Christa. Harlan's face was on it in a second. "Mr. Band, any progress?"  
  
"I've been put on hold."  
  
Goddard stared hard at Harlan's image. "What?"  
  
"At this very moment, THELMA is singing elevator music and dancing a jig." Harlan said as she sighed and grumbled.  
  
"You—no—don't try to explain—just get through as fast as you can." Goddard then punched the off button and hit the compupad on his head. "Why does everything have to be so difficult?"  
  
Zanathos felt for Suzee's mind. He knew it was still near. He knew she was still near enough to find. He graced her mind and suddenly felt it close against him.  
  
He punched the wall angrily, putting a hole into the metal. He stared at his now injured hand. The blue blood seeped out of a couple of lacerations. Then, they started sealing up quickly. He smiled at this.  
  
"I'll get you, my pretty—and your little empath, too," he mused.   
  
  
  
Elmira felt the minds touch each other for a brief moment. She felt Suzee close off her mind in a second. She wondered what Zanathos was. She searched the universe around her with her mind. She had to see what was going to happen.  
  
She saw Radu, with short hair, fighting in battle like a true warrior, painted face and all. Rosie stood beside a sort of king and a queen. Then, suddenly, something hit her mind like a shovel to her head. Death.  
  
Elmira saw images flashing at her with such intensity that she was thrown onto the ground. She saw Suzee impaled on a spear. She saw Commander Goddard burning alive. She saw Radu fighting with blood running from his mouth, burn marks all over him, and three wounds in his chest. She this and more.  
  
She screamed. Then, she passed out.  
"Damned prophetess," Zanathos growled. "That will teach you to attempt to help your friends." Then, he smiled cruelly at the monitors. "Then, again—I can make your hell a reality."  
  
He touched one monitor showing the still image of Freya that was captured on the cameras when the group rescued Suzee. Freya's face bent to his will. It twisted and turned horribly. "Nothing will stop me. Not even you, precious."  
"Sertina online."  
  
Harlan jerked awake from his nap. He glanced at THELMA and saw the blank look was still there. "What did you say, THELMA?"  
  
"Sertina online."  
  
Harlan jumped to his feet and went to the command console. "Relay to view screen."  
  
The view screen changed and there was the face of a boy no older than Harlan. He had dark skin, blonde hair and black eyes. "Who are you? What are you doing on this line?"  
  
"The Tirateem need the help of the Sertina. Please, they need you here as quickly as possible!" Harlan said quickly.  
  
"Impossible! The Tirateem need no one! The Sertina need no one! Be gone with you, stranger! Go back to whatever place you come from!"  
  
Harlan growled angrily. "Hey! I'm tryin' to be nice here! The Tirateem have lost several people to the Zeeks! They need help to go attack the Zeeks themselves!"  
  
"Zeeks?" The boy suddenly looked rather pale. "The Zeeks will destroy any who come near their city! Go away before I send my weapons on you."  
  
"Don't make me shoot you—I've got the coordinates!" Harlan growled.   
  
The Sertina boy became even paler. "Co—coordinates? You are on a ship?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm on a ship!" Harlan suddenly had an idea and smirked evilly at the boy. "And I can destroy your entire village from the Tirateem location with one shot."  
  
"Then, why not destroy the Zeeks with one shot." The boy eyed Harlan suspiciously.  
  
"Don't get technical on me!" Harlan growled and hit the console. "Damn it! I will fire if you do not agree to come!"  
  
The boy suddenly looked frightened. "It will take us five days to get over there! We can't be there now!"  
  
"You can if I come and get you." Harlan grunted.  
  
"W-we will! We will help!"  
  
"Good—I'll be there in a little bit—get your troops ready." Then, Harlan punched the console. "I will SEE you LATER," he said in a voice an octave above his own.  
  
Then, he turned to THELMA and grinned, straightening his jumpsuit in a confident sort of fashion. "Who needs diplomacy?"  
Rosie and Suzee were inside a hut with Feera. She was putting paint on their faces and various designs. "Tell me again, what is the point of this?" Suzee muttered.  
  
"It is for luck," said Feera in a grunt. "We'll need it."  
  
"That's a comforting thought." Suzee said.  
  
"Oh stop, Suzee. It looks nice on you!" Rosie smiled.  
  
"You do realize we are going into battle against an entire army of sociopathic computer nerds, right?" Suzee said as she stared at Rosie incredulously.  
  
"We shouldn't worry," Rosie smiled cheerfully, "Everything will be all right."  
  
"I'm sure it will once we get the Sertina and the Lokalit here." Feera said as she started painting on Rosie.  
  
"Feera," Suzee began, "how long have the Zeeks been fighting against the Tirateem?"  
  
"Since before I was born. Though, they didn't used to be so horrible." Feera said. "They only started raiding our village since they got their new leader, Zanathos."  
  
"Zanathos," Suzee started. "How long has he been there? Where did he come from?"  
  
"No one knows. A light came down from the sky and he suddenly showed up, taking the leader's position and claiming the Zeeks as his own. That was around the time when I was just a child." Feera said. She furrowed her brow in thought. "I remember vaguely seeing the light come from the heavens."  
  
"So he isn't one of the tribes' people of any of the tribes." Rosie said.  
  
"No, though I still don't know why you want to know." Feera said impatiently.  
  
"To know your enemy is the greatest defense of all." Suzee said.  
  
Feera gazed at Suzee admiringly. "You really do have a warrior's mind in you after all."  
  
"Comes with being captured," Suzee stated.  
  
"And Radu and Freya have warrior hearts. The entire group of you have warrior hearts." Feera said with a rare smile.  
  
"Where are the boys?" asked Rosie.  
  
"They are being painted as you are." Feera said.  
  
"They'll look even funnier than we do." Suzee said quickly.  
  
  
  
Harlan directed the ship to the coordinates of the Sertina village. He saw a mass of brown skinned people developing near the largest building. He settled the ship down and saw that every one of the people had blinding blonde hair.  
  
He was being hailed. "Incoming message."  
  
"Relay."  
  
The same boy as before appeared on the screen. "We see your ship, mighty one! Open your vessel and we will come aboard to be transported."  
  
Harlan grinned at what the Sertina called him. "Mighty one—I like the sound of that—Harlan the mighty one—gotta find someplace to put that down."  
  
Then, he looked at the screen. "All right, I need ya'll to stand back so the bridge can come down. I'll be out there in a second."  
  
Harlan then ran to the nearest jumptube and jumped into it. He slid through the tube system until he was on solid ground. "Okay, guys, we're gonna play 'Harlan is king'," he said as he ran down the corridor to the docking bay.  
  
The hull of the ship opened and the panel came down. Harlan poked his head from it and started walking down. Suddenly, he was bombarded by spears and laser blasts. He scrambled up the walkway as fast as he could and made the walkway disappear.  
  
He hid behind the door and attempted to get his breath back. "So much for that!" 


	12. HELP!

A/N: Back again! HAHAHAHA! Watch out for the Water Planet, which will be appearing as soon as I can get my graphics together, so I can finish the site.  
  
I've been scanning through the Infocore for stuffs. It's always a good thing to refresh your memory. I had completely forgotten that Harlan was a black belt and a gymnast. It doesn't surprise me, though. I would've had him fighting like that anyway. It just fits that they all learn self defense when they go into the Star Academy.  
Chapter Twelve  
Harlan growled at the console as he punched up the viewscreen. "Okay, that's it—no more mister nice-stardog."  
  
The Sertina he had spoken with was on the screen in a second. The boy glowered at Harlan menacingly. "Get out of there, stranger!"  
  
"And that's supposed to persuade me?" Harlan snapped. "You can do better than that! Some welcome you gave me. I have enemies with better personalities!"  
  
"Come out of there now, before we tear your ship apart to get you!" the boy growled.  
  
"No. You surrender or else I really WILL blow this place to smithereens." Harlan growled back.  
  
"I don't believe an intruder like you!"  
  
"Then, say bye-bye to your village, boy!" Harlan gave a mock salute to the boy and started fooling with the crystals on his console.  
  
"WAIT!"  
  
Harlan glanced up and tried not to smile. "You wished to say something?"  
  
The boy looked like he was having an internal conflict. "Don't fire on us—come on out, I will show you to our chief. You may make your case to him."  
  
"I think we can work that out." Harlan said with a smile. He made a mental note to make sure that he could see everyone around him incase they pulled the same stunt on him again. He wasn't going to be captured or killed.  
  
He then, briefly, wondered if Freya was having as hard a time as he was. He put it out of his mind as he walked to the nearest jumptube and jumped in.  
Freya swam through the tunnel. There were creatures she had never seen before swimming with her. She was very glad that none of them were very big. Not like they were on her home planet, which was completely covered by water except for tall mountains that came up from the bottom of the ocean. Those creatures were huge like the Earth whales that she had seen in the computer database.  
  
The tunnel, however, was very dark inside. She had no light to go by except the creatures that made their own light. She was glad that she had some ability to see in near dark, but she really wished that she had the same nocturnal eyes as these creatures.  
  
Suddenly, she broke through something and she had plenty of light to see with. She stopped swimming and glanced behind her. Behind her was a vast open area, but there was a strange dark hole with crackling light surrounding it. She was still in a tunnel, however.  
  
She swam forward. She saw mainly plant life around her instead of the nocturnal fish. Then, she saw something that made her gulp down water sharply. It was a large, spiny creature with large black eyes and a gaping mouth. It had sharp looking teeth and it grinned at Freya horribly.   
  
She glared at it even though it scared the life out of her. She summoned her power and shot a strange energy blast at the creature. Then, it ducked out of sight. She swam forward and went past where she had seen the creature.  
  
Then, she sensed it coming after her. She made fins on her hands to help her move faster through the water. She could feel it coming after her. She saw a light ahead of her and she headed for it.  
  
She breached the surface of the water. She felt her gills go back to the sides of her neck as she took her first gasp of air. The creature wasn't behind her any longer. It went back into the tunnel, seemingly afraid to come out of the hole.  
  
She glanced around her. She was in a lake, but further on, she saw a beach with an even larger body of water attached to it. She and Suzee had been correct.  
  
There was a small village next to the lake. In fact, she saw someone next to the lake, getting a bucket of water. They had pale skin, like the Tirateem, but the child's hair was completely white. He glanced up at Freya and stared at her with blue eyes. They were as blue as the water she was swimming in.  
  
"Hello!" she said with a smile. She waved to the boy.  
  
The boy just stared at her with those eyes of his. Then, without a word, he beckoned with his hand for her come closer.   
  
She swam closer, watching the boy for any movement for a weapon of any sort. When she was a few feet from him, he put out his hand to her. She took it and he helped her out of the water.  
  
"My name is Freya Zeetsil, what's yours?" She smiled at him cheerfully.  
  
"Come with me," he said in a low, melodic voice.  
  
  
  
Radu sat watching Feera sparing with Suzee. She was actually teaching Suzee how to use the weapons so that she could fight. Radu was taking in the moves as he watched. His light blue eyes were completely focused on Feera.  
  
The cool wind swept past him, making his curls gently move in the breeze. He had grown rather fond of his new hair. It looked a bit nicer than his long mop of hair, but he still missed having his old hair.  
  
Then, Suzee hit the ground as Feera clapped her over the back of her neck with the staff she was using. Radu got up and walked over to Suzee as Feera knelt down next to her. "Are you all right?"  
  
Suzee already had a headache from keeping Zanathos out of her mind. She couldn't even sleep in case he was able to penetrate her mind again. She could feel him laughing at her. It made her angry.  
  
"I'm fine. Let's do it again." Suzee growled as she waved Radu and Feera away from her. Then, she staggered to her feet and held the staff in her hands like she before.  
  
Feera eyed her as did Radu, who had a look of surprise on his face. She growled again and attacked Feera with the staff. Feera whipped around with the staff and threw it at Suzee.  
  
Suzee dropped in time to avoid the staff and hit Feera behind her knees as she moved herself away from Feera. Suzee landed on her rear as she spun around to see what she did. Feera was on her knees and looking back at Suzee, smiling at her. "Very good, Suzee—you will become a warrior yet."  
  
Suzee got to her feet and growled. "I don't want to be a warrior. I just want to still be alive when this is all over." She felt a little trickle of blood come from her mouth. She wiped it away vehemently and stalked away.  
  
Radu glanced between a slightly indignant Feera and the angry Suzee. He rarely saw Suzee get angry. He was very worried now.   
  
Feera mumbled indignantly as she stood, "Who wouldn't want to be a warrior!"  
  
Radu trotted after Suzee and caught up with her after a few seconds. "Suzee. Suzee! Suzee, what's wrong!" He grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her around. He was promptly welcomed by the end of her staff to his face.   
  
She wasn't really strong enough to hurt him, but it still hurt to get hit. He rubbed his face as he stared at her. "Suzee, what's wrong!"  
  
Her face was a mixture of anger, exhaustion and fear. He caught the fear quite easily. She had tears in her eyes that she was fighting back. "Suzee…"  
  
She ran off, dropping the staff at his feet. He just watched her run away from him. He couldn't think of what else he could do.  
  
Suzee ran until she was too tired to run. That was when she tripped on someone. "OW!"  
  
Suzee landed hard on the ground, the tears fighting to break through. She gazed at the person she tripped on. It was Rosie.  
  
"I-I'm sorry, Rosie. I didn't mean to step on you," she said.  
  
Rosie sat up and smiled cheerfully at her. "What's wrong, Suzee? Dust in your eyes?"  
  
Suzee suddenly couldn't take it. She let the tears flow down her cheeks as she slumped onto the ground, her shoulders shaking with the force of her sobbing. "Suzee!" Rosie gasped.  
  
Rosie put her hands on Suzee's shoulders and rubbed them gently. "Suzee, what wrong? Why are you crying?"  
  
"I can't take it anymore, Rosie." Suzee said in between sobs with a shaky voice. "I just can't…"  
  
Rosie patted Suzee on her shoulder. "What can't you take, Suzee?"  
  
"Za-zanathos is trying to probe my mind, but I won't let him! He's evil and will destroy everyone if we don't get rid of him! I can't take all of this torment!"  
  
Rosie had sympathy for her friend. She hugged Suzee around her shoulders and tried to calm her down. "You need to rest. When you wake up, everything will be all right again, you'll see."  
  
Suzee sat up and gazed at Rosie. She knew it wasn't true, but she smiled anyway. In Rosie's way, she was telling Suzee to look on the bright side of things. "Thank you, Rosie."   
  
"Anything for a friend in need!" Rosie smiled and giggled. "Now go to our hut and get some rest."  
  
Suzee didn't feel like arguing the point. She sighed and stood up. She realized that she had run into the field just outside of the village, which was in a clearing. The trees grew tall around them, letting bits of sunlight through to shine down on the grass. It was calming.  
  
"All right, I'll go," she said to Rosie before walking back to the village.  
  
  
  
Bova and Commander Goddard were hard at work trying to figure a way to get past the main portion of the city. Actually, Bova was making weird comments as Goddard threw them out. Tavik was the one actually helping.  
  
"We could go through this area to get to the main Zeek building." Commander Goddard pointed to an entrance on the map they had before them.  
  
"And promptly get ourselves shot at by the guards that stand there." Bova drawled.  
  
"Or maybe we can do what we did last time and go here," Goddard started.  
  
"And suddenly realize that we're being redundant and the Zeeks find us and shoot us on sight." Bova said.  
  
"Bova, if all you are going to so is make useless comments, then go outside and practice with Feera." Goddard said trying not to smile at the last comment. Bova was right; the Zeeks would have covered that area already.  
  
Tavik was staring at the map. "We could go through all of them at once."  
  
"What?" Bova and Goddard seemed to speak as one.  
  
"There's an idea," Goddard said. "They won't expect everyone at once on everything, but do we have the people?"  
  
"Yes, we will, when the Sertina get here. When the Lokalit come, they will just add that much more to our ranks." Tavik said complacently.  
  
"Good idea, Tavik!" Goddard smiled. "Now all we need is for Harlan to contact us with good news. Speaking of Harlan, I wonder how he is doing."  
  
Bova just shrugged.  
"Is THIS how you treat an AMBASSADOR OF GOODWILL?!"  
  
Harlan was backed into a corner by a bunch of surly looking Sertina boys. One of them stepped forward and glared at him. "You have no goodwill, infidel!"  
  
"Who's calling who! I was coming here just to ask if some of ya'll would come to the Tirateem's aid!" Harlan growled.  
  
"The Tirateem are nothing but rebels! They should be slaughtered, all of them!" said another Sertina boy.  
  
Harlan couldn't take it any longer. He jumped and sprung off of the tallest Sertina's shoulders, vaulting himself over the crowd and landing fifteen feet from them. "Come and get me!" he cried.  
  
Then, he ran toward the Christa with all the speed he could muster. He ran past several Sertina girls with their babies. They screamed at him and ran away as the several Sertina came after him.  
  
Suddenly, several more warrior like Sertina were blocking off the way to the Christa. He vaulted over them and scampered off at a dead run to the Christa. Suddenly, he was hit with a bolt of electricity. He hit the ground and rolled as a low level of electricity surged through his limbs.  
  
When he stopped, he was staring at a pair of sandal clad feet. He looked up and saw a tall woman with the same skin and long, straight blonde hair as the other girls. She was only slightly older than the girls with their babies. She was partly in shadow due to the sun being behind her.  
  
"Hi," Harlan managed to get out before he blacked out, collapsing entirely at the woman's feet. 


	13. Here we come to save the daaaaaaay!

A/N: I've been making a make-shift soundtrack to this story. I never expected it to go on this long. I had originally thought it would be over in six or seven chapters. Shows what I know, eh?

Anyway… I'm having a bit of trouble trying to come up some tracks, but I think I'll manage.

3/07/05 okay, so I didn't get this out real quick, but you know I mean well. I've been doing things like a comic called The Four and Legend of Armis as well as my Wonderland series. Then, I started a new HP story taking place four years or so after To Have and To Hold. It took a bit of rereading to do this, and a bit of reeducating myself in Space Case lore, but I got the next chapter out. XD Enjoy!

Chapter Thirteen

Harlan woke up. He opened his eyes and gazed blearily around him. He found himself in a cage, in a dark corner of it to be exact, but the light coming from the window was intense. It almost blinded him even as he looked at the light on the floor.

"You are awake?"

He turned quickly to see who was talking to him. It was the same woman he had seen earlier, though he could see her more clearly this time. She was very pretty. Her long blonde hair fell around her heavily and her eyes peered at him like holes.

"Yeah—yeah, I'm awake," he said as he rubbed the back of his head. He was beginning to get a headache. "Where am I?"

"You are in our prison and if you wish to get out, you had better tell us everything."

Harlan shook his head to rid it of the fuzziness. "I already told you everything. The Zeeks are trying very hard to get rid of the Tirateem—for good. I was sent to get reinforcements—then I was attacked—and here we are."

The woman's expression never changed. "That still does not explain you."

"I'm from a planet called Earth. I and my crew landed here on a false message sent out by the Zeek leader. He held a friend and me captive until we were rescued by my other shipmates."

Harlan glanced around again; only able to see so much of the cage he was in. The heat alone was unbearable. "Do you have any water?"

The woman didn't move. It was as though she was a robot of some sort. Somehow, though, her face was different than before, as though scrutinizing him. She picked up a bowl and handed it to him. "Here."

He took the bowl and drank from it. It was warm, but at least it was wet. He saw her watching him very carefully. When he finished, he handed the bowl back to her. "Thank you."

"You say the Zeeks have a leader now? Who?"

Harlan shrugged at her. "Zanathos, I think. Why?"

There was a strange expression on her face, suddenly, she touched the bars on his cell and electricity flowed into him. He saw her face had changed into anger. "You lie! Zanathos isn't real! He was once a god in the heavens, but he's only a myth!"

Harlan dropped to the floor, twitching uncontrollably. He wrapped his arms around his stomach in an attempt to keep himself from moving. "It ISN'T a lie! AARGH!"

"He's a myth, you hear me! A MYTH!"

Suddenly, she let go of the bars and Harlan could move again. He briefly wondered how she had done that when her words sunk into him. "A myth? What do you mean?"

She waved her hand dismissively. "That is correct—you are an outsider with no inkling of knowledge to our entire culture. Fine—I shall tell you about Zanathos the trickster."

"Zanathos once lived in the heavens with the other gods and goddesses. He preyed on the weak of mind to carry out his evils, usually causing the person's destruction. When he wasn't finding ways of tricking people, he was looking for ways to stay alive."

"He knew that the time of the gods would disappear, but he wanted to be the last one standing. He kept making the adults make strange potions to keep him alive until he eventually caused the genetic disorder in everyone on the planet. Others will tell you it was the adults who caused our suffering, but it was really Zanathos who gave them the questions."

Harlan let it all sink in. He wondered if this Zanathos was similar to the mythic Zanathos. "So he just disappeared with the rest of the gods?" Harlan asked.

The woman nodded. Harlan was sent reeling into more questions inside his brain. Then, the woman leaned forward and smiled at him. "Well, it seems you've learned your lesson. I think you may be let out now and sent back."

He got to his feet quickly. "I need help though! The Tirateem are going to be slaughtered by the Zeeks regardless if their Zanathos is THE Zanathos or not! They're going to die unless I can get help!"

The woman stood up and walked to the bar, but didn't touch them. She just gazed into his eyes with her own black eyes. "Then, they die. We can not get into this battle. The Zeeks will come after us as well if we try." Then, she started walking away.

Harlan wasn't through yet. He growled at her and grabbed the bars. "Do you honestly think that they'll stop at the Tirateem! They'll conquer the Tirateem then come after the Sertina and the Lokalit and whatever else you have on this planet!"

She stopped and turned around, fixing him with a cold stare, but he could clearly see fear in her black eyes. She walked forward to him and glared at him. "Don't you dare put this on my people! We've been through enough without having to add the stress of a fake war on hand. If I find that you are lying," she ran a finger down his cheek, electricity making it twitch some, "I'll kill you—personally."

Then, she wrenched open the door to the cell and grabbed his arm, his sleeve saving him from the electricity that seemed to be flowing from her. They walked out of the room and then walked out of the building. Girls with babies and boys walking about stopped to stare at the woman and him.

"My people! We are in dire trouble! I need twenty of my strongest warriors to aid in the battle against subduing the Zeeks!" She held up Harlan's arm with hers and cried out. "WHO WILL JOIN US?"

Several men and women cried out in a cheer. Harlan glanced at the woman with a concerned gaze. He wondered if she had meant that she would be joining the fight as well.

She didn't even look to him. She just put their arms down and looked at everyone, even though she was speaking only to him. "I am the oldest among us, I must come along." Then, she turned to him and smiled. "Knowledge shall win this war."

He was slightly taken aback by her. He wasn't entirely sure how to take her statement, but knew better not to ask.

Commander Goddard waited impatiently for something from Harlan. He could see Feera and Tavik talking heatedly to one another. He glanced at his compupad impatiently once again, but he expected nothing as he'd noticed before. What was taking that boy so long?

Suzee walked out of the girls' hut looking somewhat better than before. Rosie had told him about Suzee's problem. He hoped she had somehow managed to keep Zanathos at bay.

"Incomping Message"

Goddard hit the ground when he jumped for the compupad. It was a bold fight against his own two legs as he reached out and caught the compupad in his hand and turned it on. "HARLAN! WHAT!"

"Geez, commander, could you shout any louder?" Harlan's grinning visage could be seen quite clearly.

"Do you have any idea just how long we have been waiting to hear from you?" Goddard growled. He was happy to see Harlan safe, but his irritation must be known to the boy.

"We're almost there, commander. In fact… you might be feeling a slight—"

There was a rumbling sound and Goddard heard the sound of the Christa landing not far off. Goddard grinned and closed the compupad. "THEY'RE HERE!" he called to the village.

Harlan landed the Christa without too much difficulty. "THELMA?" he asked to the air.

"Yes, Mr. Band?" she said as she appeared next to him.

"Can you tell me if there is anyone outside that doesn't seem friendly?" he asked. The last thing they needed was to have the Zeeks attack the Christa herself.

"Yes, I can." THELMA didn't say anything more, smiling that blank smile.

Harlan stopped when he realized that she wasn't saying anything else. He looked over his shoulder at her and raised his eyebrows. "I meant are there any unfriendlies out there NOW, THELMA."

"No, there are not. The Christa sees no one other than a big band of people running out to meet the Christa waving spears and other primitive instruments about and shouting."

Harlan groaned and rubbed his head. "Open bay doors."

He walked out and waved to Feera and Tavik. "We have the Sertina warriors here," he said with a half smile.

The woman walked down the ramp in her usual grace. Blonde hair flowed around her as she walked toward the group assembling. Tavik blinked and bowed to the woman. "Jenna," he said in awe of her.

Harlan blinked and looked to the imposing woman. He hadn't thought to ask her name, of course she never even gave him the impression that he should. Tavik seemed to notice the confused expression Harlan was sporting. "Jenna is known. Although, I would have thought she'd have been taken a long time ago by the disease."

Jenna inclined her head. "Your village, please."

The Sertina and Harlan were taken back through the forest to the Tirateem village, or what was left of it from the Zeek attack. One thing could be said about the Tirateem was that they'd been attacked so many times that they'd become accustomed to rebuilding everything within a limited amount of time. It wasn't too much of a consolation, but enough of one.

Commander Goddard grinned at Harlan when they arrived. "Mr. Band, I see you did a job well done, eh?"

"What are the services that we are needed for?" Jenna stated in that commanding tone she had. She didn't seem the least bit afraid of Commander Goddard or Miss Davenport, who really couldn't frighten a mouse unless it was with school work and exams.

Commander Goddard nodded to the leader of the Sertina and they walked into Tavik's hut. There was a crude map laid out with a compupad next to it with a better version. "We are currently still trying to get the Lokalit to join forces with us, but we can make it without them if Miss Zeetsil comes back empty handed."

"You are… an adult… an aged adult," Jenna said in a soft tone.

Goddard actually flushed slightly. "I'm only fourty."

Outside, Radu looked to Harlan. "Just how old is she? She looks much older than her people."

Harlan shrugged, but he felt Feera behind him tap his shoulder. "She would be far older than anyone you have ever met."

"I wouldn't go so far as to say that," Harlan said.

"Why do you say that?" Radu asked softly.

Feera looked reluctant at first, then moved as though to walk into the hut. "She was one of the scientists who created the disease." Then, she walked in, thusly cutting herself off from the two boys.

Harlan and Radu looked to one another. "How can she be so old if the disease killed all the adults?" asked Radu.  
"Hell if I know," Harlan grunted. He didn't like being confused.

"They have the Sertina….and Jenna." Zanathos grunted as he opened his black eyes.

Treya looked on at Zanathos with worry clear on her face. She put on the metal mask she wore into combat and stood. "I shall prepare the troops, sir."

"Do that." When Treya left, Zanathos touched the screens in front of him lovingly. "Jenna…you always did strike much the same. You've done it before… and you'll fail again." 


	14. The End Battle

A/N: So I've been busy with other things. Sorry for late updates. Who knows when this one is gonna show up, eh? '

Anyway, so I'm thinking of switching the Space Cases site of mine over to geocities, which is gonna be a feat all on its own. .

Chapter Fourteen

"You can not go through with that plan. We have tried to infiltrate the Zeeks before and it is not possible. They have machines that keep track of everything." Jenna was slowly becoming more and more of a hindrance to the operation. Commander Goddard grunted at this.

"We thought of that already. They won't expect us to come all at once in from every direction. It's sort of a suicide mission that is likely to work," he said.

"Oh good, I always wanted to be on one of those," drawled Bova.

Commander Goddard fixed him with a withering look. Bova seemed unfazed by it. "What we need is for the Sertina to come around these points here. See?"

"And promptly be killed by their guns and lasers. Commander, we have seen this before and it will not work. You need far more power than what we have to offer," said Jenna.

"If Jenna can not help, then what are the chances we can win?" said Feera in a straight tone. It had no inflection in, nothing that gave away what she was feeling.

Jenna stared at Feera with her dark eyes. "Tell me, child, would you go through with this plan without us?"

"No."

"Then, I suggest coming up with a better plan. We are here to increase your number, not to be slaughtered while you infiltrate." Jenna glared at Goddard and for the first time he felt like a child compared to this woman.

Goddard sighed and ran a hand through his short cropped hair. "Please… we need your help. Will you help us?"

Jenna stood up in one smooth motion. "I wish to rest, I have had a rather tiring day."

Goddard looked outside and noticed that it was indeed drawing on nighttime. He had forgotten how short the days and nights were on this planet. He suspected that he had a grand total of four hours sleep every night before someone came to wake him up for breakfast, and that was not with the intensive training he helped teach.

Tavik put a hand on Goddard's shoulder. "Get some rest, Goddard. You look tired."

"I feel old," he grumbled.

"You are old."

"Thank you," Goddard said in a sarcastic tone. He sighed and waved Tavik off. "All right, I'm going."

Goddard stood and looked to Radu and Harlan at the entrance of the hut. They nodded and walked to the boys' hut.

Music.

Dance.

Light.

Elmira sat in her usual spot, holding onto her head as though it was about to explode. She moaned as she waved around. A strange tune played through her mind, over and over again, making her feel as though she was going insane.

She got up and heard a voice inside her mind, commanding in tone. IT said dance. She tried to stop it, but soon she was twirling in the middle of the room, her red hair twirling around with her. She saw light all around her and she danced to the swirling music.

She kicked up and danced to the music inside her mind. She couldn't think of anything else she could do. It was there, always there, making no sense whatsoever and she couldn't contact Radu or anyone else.

She heard the voice again and she relaxed against the wall. Panting, she slid down and lay back on the ground. She was a puppet to the puppet-master and he knew when to pull those strings of hers.

She remembered telling Radu about her destiny with him. She smiled faintly. She liked him. He was a sweet boy. The music faded from her mind and she fell into a strange sleep that left her awake and yet unconscious.

Radu sat up suddenly. He'd heard something. He didn't know what he heard, he just heard it. Something was walking around the village. He concentrated hard in his mind to focus on the exact sound he'd heard.

A sharp intake of breath.

He could hear Harlan and Bova snoring behind him loudly and he grimaced. That wasn't what he'd heard. He crouched inside the boys' hut and peered out the entrance to the hut. There was some movement outside. He caught the sight of metal and narrowed his eyes. Metal?

He saw a familiar mask look right over at him and he ducked back quickly. He scrambled over to Harlan and shook him. "Harlan.. wake up. Quickly," he hissed.

Harlan woke up waving his arms about, trying to hit whatever was disturbing his sleep. He blinked blearily at Radu and then glared. "Radu, this had better be important or else I'm going to find something unpleasant to do to your ears."

Radu flushed faintly. "The Zeeks—"

The warning signal sounded. There was a loud clanging from the beaten metal plate they used to warn the village. Goddard woke to the sound of it and sat up, looking about the hut.

He peered about the hut that was reserved for him and Miss Davenport, which was odd on its own, but he didn't complain. He picked up the spear that had been given to him and the knife, creeping toward the entrance of the hut. He looked out and saw Radu fighting off someone. That someone looked as though they were wearing an automated suit to use power against Radu.

Harlan and Bova were fighting against others as well, though they wore no automated suits. He through the knife at the ground beside Miss Davenport's head and watched her sit up stiffly. "Get it and hide! We're being attacked!"

She scrambled further into the hut as he ran out, ramming the spear into a Zeek boy's chest. He put his foot on that boy's chest and tugged it out, running at the boys holding Bova and Harlan.

Treya was in the automated suit, holding onto Radu's arms. He grunted and kicked at her, but she too wouldn't move, just as he didn't budge from his spot. "You cannot win, Radu 386," she grinned.

His eyes widened. How did she know his name? His thoughts immediately went to Suzee, who had been bombarded by Zanathos.

The clamps on his wrists tightened down and he let out a yelp of pain, gritting his teeth as he sent his head forward. Their skulls collided and Treya fell back, releasing Radu quickly.

Radu wobbled slightly, rubbing his head. She had been wearing that blasted metal mask which had cracked him through his hair fairly seriously. He groaned as his back hit the hut.

He was thrust aside by Feera as a laser blast from her laser cannon on her arm narrowly missed them. He hit the ground and rolled away from Feera so he wouldn't crush her. He grabbed the nearest object he could find and threw it at Treya's arm. It was a rock and it crushed the armature in one blow. He grinned and ran his shoulder into the Zeek that was holding another Tirateem.

Bova and Harlan weren't having too many difficulties. Harlan, with Goddard's help, managed to get himself free enough kick the boy's head. Goddard ran the spear he had through the boy's chest and pulled him off in almost one move.

Bova grumbled and built up as much energy as he could inside of him, letting off a lightning blast that knocked the boy off of him and the second one coming at him. "Well, now you know that electricity isn't your friend," he said with an odd bout of humor. Unusual for him, probably, but he felt bit better being able to shove off two Zeeks without a problem.

There was a scream from the hut near the boys' hut. Rosie and Suzee were being pulled out by their hands and knees, though it was only really Suzee. Rosie singed one girl quickly and then clapped her hands on the one holding Suzee's feet right on either side of his head. He jolted slightly and let out a scream of pain as he hit the ground. "MY EARS!"

The Zeeks seemed to keep coming.

The Sertina walked out of their huts, some carrying the bodies of their dead comrades. Jenna appeared amongst them and growled. "ENOUGH!" she shouted.

Suddenly, like Bova, she seemed to glow with electricity for a moment and she pointed at Treya and the crowd of Zeeks. Commander Goddard grabbed Harlan and jumped from the area. Radu followed behind, grabbing Suzee and Rosie on his way.

There was a massive blast that lit up the sky. It was as though out of nowhere in the sky, one massive lightning bolt shot out and hit the crowd of Zeeks and their machines. Each one dropped, though most of them were covering themselves with something that could be called a shield of sorts. They jumped on the ground, like fish out of water.

Jenna collapsed on the ground. One of her people picked her up and pulled her away from the battle scene. The other Sertina ran forward with their spears and started fighting against the Zeeks that were getting up.

The blast had been witnessed from not too far off. Zanathos growled. "Damn that Jenna. Damn her to farthest reaches of purgatory!" he snarled. He picked up his machines and ran past the lake. He'd come to show the Tirateem and the Sertina what true power was, but he couldn't ever match fists with Jenna of the Sertina.

He stopped as he heard something coming out of the lake. Light. Bright and beautiful light was coming out of the lake. He growled and covered his eyes. "NO! NOT YOU! I SHOULD'VE MADE SURE I DESTROYED YOU LOT WHEN I HAD THE CHANCE!"

He started to run when he heard some female voice behind him. He recognized it and shuddered, his black eyes going wide. He turned, as the voice asked him to, and he met a pair of bright red eyes. "The… The Empath.."

Freya tilted her head in an inquisitive fashion. Her voice came out sounding distorted, like a robot. "You…are the one that should have died. You have hurt people."

The light grew stronger and he had trouble seeing Freya. The beings coming out of the water were made of the light, so bright it hurt his black eyes to look at them. "Get away from ME!" he snarled.

The same polite and gentle robotic voice sounded inside his head again, though now he could discern it as not so much a voice, but the feeling of one speaking to him. He smirked. He was gaining control of himself again. The Empath wasn't as strong as he'd thought originally.

"You can not stop me… not any of you." Then, he ran. Freya ran after him. He was faster than she was that much he knew for certain.

He found his ship hidden in the ruins of the old statues to the gods. He grinned as he punched the eye of one of the heads and the rock fell off of it. Light burst from it, forming into a ship that was so black, it could barely be seen in the darkness of night without looking at it from the side. Only movement of space could give you an idea of where it was.

Freya leapt at him, but he disappeared inside the ship. She bounced off of some sort of shielding around the vessel and hit the ground, completely limp.

The Zeeks were tied up with rope and whatever else they could find. The Sertina held them together as the Tirateem started trying to fix up the last of the wounded. Radu hissed as a girl cleaned his cuts and burns.

Goddard was situated not far from them, dealing with his own wounds. Tavik helped nearby. "It seems… we have won," said Tavik with a small smile. "There don't seem to be any more Zeeks coming at us and Feera tells me that the town is nearly empty. Her operatives are clearing out the rest with the help of a few Sertina."

"I'm sorry that Freya couldn't get back quickly. We could have done this better with fewer losses if she had," Goddard said with a heavy sigh.

"No… the Lokalit are something of a pacifist race. The way they fight is far more advanced than that of either tribe. Even that of the Zeeks."

Goddard blinked. "Tell me, how did these tribes form?"

Harlan sat up with a grunt. "Yeah, Feera said Jenna was one of the scientists that created the plague and Jenna said that Zanathos was a myth and a god. What happened?"

Tavik blinked and was about to say something when another voice came from no where. Light filtered into the camp. Bright and glowing with promise. "What happened is still something of a mystery, even to those who had seen it."

Tavik's mouth opened and closed like a fish. Radu blinked at them. "Huh?"

"The Lokalit," whispered the Tirateem around him.

"Would someone PLEASE tell me what is going on?" growled Goddard. He'd had enough of these mysteries.

The light formed into people and a boy with bright ocean blue eyes and white hair smiled at them. He was a child compared to the others around him that were now forming into humanoid form. All had the same almost glowing blue eyes and white hair of varying lengths.

"It is time that the tale is known as well as any of us can remember it," he said in a melodic tone. 


	15. The Light of the Lokalit

A/N: BAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAAH! I AM INSAAAAAAANE! BAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA!

Also I never liked Elmira, so you might as well get used to her absence. XD

Chapter Fifteen

"We were once a planet of technological people. We studied the way our planet moved in the galaxy, the way it moves in our universe. We came up with ways to cure health problems using chemicals and machines instead of looking to the plantlife. While doing one way is good, completely eliminating the other caused part of our dependency on technology."

Everyone was gathered around the child. He spoke as though he saw it himself, and to Goddard's way of thinking about this particular tribe, he probably had.

"We worshipped our gods and we lived peacefully. We had one god in particular whose name was a curse to utter. Someone was being cheeky, they were known as a Zanathos. He was the trickster even in our myths," said a female with long white hair down her back. She placed a hand on the boy's shoulder and nodded.

The boy smiled and sat down in front of Goddard as though he was going to listen to a story, only he continued to speak.

"One day, the trickster came down from the heavens, bored with his life and our peaceful way of living. He whispered into the ears of the scientists coming up with ways to cure diseases, disguising himself as one of them, and he taught them a way to make a genetic plague that would kill our enemies, should we decide to have them. The group of scientists thought that it was an interesting idea, but the concept was wrong. If we were to make a disease, we would also have to make a cure and then keep the entire thing secret until it was needed. Who knew what sort of destruction could come about if the disorder was sent into the general public?"

"Zanathos, still in disguise, oversaw the entire experiment. He never put his hands into it. He wanted to be free from the consequences of his actions. He kept feeding ideas into the great minds he had chosen to rid him of his boredom and then the plague was born."

"It didn't suddenly start up, however. It took a while for things to calm down, for the scientists to let their guard down. There were hundreds of countries willing to kill for this serum that could kill enemies within what you call minutes. Zanathos became impatient and took the serum, putting it into the air and spreading it around. He was unaffected because he also had the cure."

"I thought that Zanathos was a god," said Harlan.

"He is our God of trickery, but he is living. He was born on this planet, long ago, even for the Lokalit. He was born of the very people that created the Tirateem, the Sertina and the Lokalit. Once there were thousands on this planet, hundreds of tribes, but, once he had the serum and the antidote, he also had the ability to destroy his own world. He built himself a ship, blacker than black against the night sky, to ride back into the heavens when he wanted to sleep off the… centuries?" The female spoke, but the last word was a question. She looked to the boy and he nodded. "Centuries."

"He's hundreds of years old and he kept a grip on the planet through telepathy?" asked Radu, trying to understand.

"We do not understand much of it, ourselves," said the female.

"The disease killed the adults, using the body's aging process as the killing factor. When we reach the age of—to you it would be the age of twenty-five—we suddenly age rapidly until we die. That was the process that he devised. He wanted to watch half the world die of the plague and the other half kill each other over a cure he had," said the boy.

"Only it didn't work. The plague killed most of the adults, but some, like Jenna, survived and were mutated because of it. They stopped aging," said the female and put her hand on the boy's shoulder with a fond smile.

The boy smiled back and grinned at Goddard. "You do not have to worry about the plague now. It has resolved itself into a genetic disorder, instead of an actual communicable disease."

Goddard nodded, somewhat disoriented now.

"There are more tribes on this planet than we three, but we three are the closest to each other and we three are the most prominent. Derek was the son of one of the scientists, the head, in fact, that created the virus. Jenna was the second and I… was…the third. Derek and Tavik's father aged forward slightly, but stayed at that age until Zanathos killed him. Jenna, never aged beyond her thirtieth birthday, gaining a strange ability that had only occurred in the tribes of the deserts from the static electricity in the area. She has used much of her energy this day. She will recover, but she will be weakened greatly."

The Sertina warrior that was nearest to the boy nodded, his dark eyes glinting in the light of the Lokalit.

"I aged backwards. I could never age forwards again, but my people knew that I was still of great use. So I oversaw the tribe's beginnings. I oversaw the Tirateem and the Sertina's beginnings, with Jenna and Tora's help. The Tirateem were created from a batch of people living near the forest, in the city that is now in ruins. The great statues of the Gods were where they worshipped and sang songs. The Zeeks were created from the Tirateem when Zanathos crashed back onto our planet. He hid his ship while it repaired itself in the city of statues to be used when he needed it."

"How did ya'll get separated?" asked Harlan.

"The Zeeks grew from the Tirateem. Therefore, the people of the desert and the people of the forest had to separate until they could once again join together against the Zeeks. So the Sertina went back into their desert homes, collecting information from their old machines they kept and watched from afar. The people of the ocean, the Lokalit, went back to their homes through the tunnel in the Lake of Hope. Zanathos destroyed any hope of the Lokalit ever returning here, by placing creatures in the tunnel to dispel any who tried to swim it. Only the Lokalit can dispel the darkness, because we are the light."

The female looked to Goddard and lifted an arm, holding out a necklace, the one Feera had given Freya for luck. "It is of our making, a sort of signal from one tribe to another when we are needed. It was found on one of your people, a water dweller named…. Freja, I believe."

"Freya, actually," he said automatically.

Radu blinked. "But… that would mean she…"

Another Lokalit walked into the light of his brethren. He carried in his arms a green haired female with gills and wearing the pants and shirt of the crew of the Christa. "Freya is very brave, but she confuses most of my people. She willingly took technology into her body and brain to further her ability to do things. However, she is lucky that Zanathos could not penetrate her mind. An Empath can only direct emotion, but in that case it is very powerful. Through emotion is where Zanathos forgets. He becomes frightened or angry or happy or sad, he will forget what he had been planning to do, same happens with anyone. It is almost a voice inside your head asking you to do something rather than telling you. You just choose to go along with the voice," said the boy.

Radu walked over to the Lokalit male and took Freya from him carefully. Her head hung limply along with every limb that was draped on him. "She is unconscious from fighting Zanathos. The technology inside her mind enabled her to use her abilities against him. However, the coward has left the planet," said the boy again.

"What do you mean he has left the planet?" asked Goddard.

"His ship that had crashed so long ago was put into the head of the statue of himself. It will have repaired itself by now, and he will have left to pursue other ideas in other places. I am sorry to say that it will be in another place that Zanathos will be defeated and not here. We would never want to place upon anyone our fate."

Radu looked to Commander Goddard. "We should… head back to the Christa, sir."

"Wait, why is it Suzee couldn't keep Zanathos out, but Freya could without even thinking about it?" asked Rosie.

The boy smiled at Rosie. "Think of it as a computer talking to another computer, Rosie Ianni. The network is clear with two telepaths, but a telepath to an empath is distorted to the point of being non existent. Empaths use emotions, and in Miss Zeetsil's case, use them in an almost telepathic manner, not use actual thoughts themselves, but the feeling of a thought. That is why Suzee could not keep him out, because she is inherently an open channel. Freya is not."

Jenna appeared at the edge of the circle. She was being held up by one of her warriors and smiled at the boy. "Gogeric, I see you are well."

"I am most well, thank you, Jenna. However, I think we can over see this planet once more," the boy named Gogeric said.

Jenna nodded. "Without the help of Tora."

The boy smiled sadly. "Yes, without Tora, but… we have his son… Tavik." Gogeric looked over at Tavik and smiled brightly at him. "We will be honored if you let us join with the Tirateem."

Tavik gulped and looked to Feera. She smiled and nodded as he stepped forward. "I.. I think the Tirateem will do fine now without much of your help. That doesn't mean we should keep from speaking to one another, just…. We'd like to do things on our own, like we have been doing for a long time."

Jenna smiled. "The Sertina would like to return home as well. The desert is our home."

"As will the Lokalit return back to the ocean where we belong. The forest doesn't have enough water for my tastes," grinned Gogeric.

The Christa was ready to go, all that was needed was to bring aboard the rest of the crew. Harlan grinned as he shook hands with Feera and Tavik. "We'll miss ya'll, y'know. It's been an… experience."

"We will miss your wit, Harlan Band. You have been a very big education to us," said Tavik with a smile. He looked to Commander Goddard and Miss Davenport. "As have you two."

Commander Goddard shook hands with Tavik. "We still don't quite understand why you placed the two of us together in a hut instead of placing Miss Davenport in the girls' hut and me with the boys."

"We thought you two were mates. Are you not?" Tavik couldn't look any more like he hadn't a clue.

Goddard and Davenport blushed and sputtered while Suzee hugged Tavik. "Thank you…"

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Miss Suzee. All of you. We hope we can see you again, under better circumstances," said Tavik with a grin.

"Under the circumstances for us, we hope we NEVER have to be here again. That would mean we're going in circles and it would take that much longer for us to get home," said Harlan.

"Then, I wish you luck." Tavik then bowed to them. "And I do hope you enjoy your gifts. They are finely made from the metal that the Zeeks used for decoration."

Each of the crew had been given some sort of trinket. For Harlan, it was a knife made from the silvery substance that they used. The hilt had a strange sort of animal on it that looked a bit like a snake or a dragon. Bova received a strange sort of wrist cuff that held a single green jewel, as green as the forest itself. He felt it was a bit girly, but he didn't say anything. Radu received the plant seeds for his hair mixture as well as a pendent on a leather strap that looked like a strange sort of open triangle. Miss Davenport and Commander Goddard were given spears with charms on them for protection. Rosie was given a bracelet with the symbol of the Tirateem on it. Suzee was given hair clip of sorts with the Tirateem symbol on it and Freya was given the necklace that had been used to bring the Lokalit there. However, Freya was in the hibernation pod from burns that had been from her bouncing off the defense shield around Zanathos' ship.

Harlan waved to the Tirateem and walked on board the Christa. Getting back to the command post, everyone got to their places. Radu at Navigation, his hair shorter and smoother now, but no less fluffy; Rosie and Bova back to where they belonged; Suzee at Engineering and Harlan in the center of the room.

"Thelma?" Harlan said to the ship.

Thelma appeared from nowhere right beside him. He jumped. "Yes, Mr. Band?"

"Can you tell me if there is anything in our way before we take off?"

"Yes." She then started to walk off.

Commander Goddard rolled his eyes. "Thelma, where are you going?"

"To go see if there is anything in our way before we take off," said Thelma.

Commander Goddard walked over to Thelma and took hold of her arm, pulling her back over. "With the computer, Thelma. Talk to the computer."

"Yes… we are cleared," she said with that blank tone.

Harlan grinned. "Brace yourselves!" Then, the ship hovered up from the ground. The Landing gear pulled up into the ship and then it took off into the sky. 


End file.
